The Strip Club Job - A Different Kind of Knight
by Rubyoutoftheblue
Summary: When Nate and Sophie married the team carried on as a threesome, but it wasn't easy. Sometimes they needed extra help. They recruited the new girl from the restaurant to help in the hunt for a missing girl. A kidnapping, a rescue and a shooting followed before the team finally resolved the problem.
1. Chapter 1

None of the Leverage characters belong to me. This is my first attempt at fan fiction, I hope you will like it. I really would appreciate some views and comments. Thanks!

* * *

A DIFFERENT KIND OF KNIGHT

THE STRIP CLUB JOB

Toni considered his options. He always took an interest in what happened to his students. The ones who finished his Chef's course were all bound for success, because those who didn't have what it took fell by the wayside! His courses were not cheap; many of his students had rich, or just very dedicated, parents to help them. Sometimes he felt a little guilty that he could only offer scholarships to a very few poorer individuals, but he would never pass over any student who was really keen and had proper talent.

So when the course finished, most had someone to look out for them, to encourage them into jobs. Just occasionally there were exceptions. He wandered out of his office to inspect the kitchen, as he'd known, it was looking immaculate. His manager had overseen the clean-up and dismissed the students for a couple of hours. As he had also known, there was still one student left. Katherine Cameron.

She was seated in the corner of the rest area with her nose buried in a book.

"Miss Cameron!" He barked. She leapt to her feet.

"Yes, Chef!"

"Why are you not out getting some fresh air and chatting with your friends?"

She looked at him guiltily. "I wanted to read this book, I might not get the chance next week."

"You were swotting?"

"Well….I suppose so." She admitted. "I really want to pass."

"Miss Cameron, the likelihood of you failing at this stage is non-existent! You are the best student in the class."

"Oh!" She coloured prettily. "Thank you. That means so much to me."

"Now…..out! At least take a stroll around the park for half an hour."

She retreated throwing him an embarrassed smile.

Toni watched her go. This girl was the cause of all his latest musings. He knew she had spent virtually her last dollar on this course. She couldn't afford, quite literally, to spend her time job hunting. She was such a lost soul.

Katherine was in her mid-twenties and as pretty as a picture, even Toni could feel the attraction although he was nearly old enough to be her grandfather! When he'd interviewed her he'd been struck by her beauty, but had soon found himself puzzled by her manner. She was so….private. She seemed to avoid human contact. Oh she was there with the others, always present, joining in, smiling and laughing along, but she never ever put herself in the limelight despite her very obvious attractions. For the first few weeks she had made a point of not sitting with the guys, of not ever getting cosy the way some of the other girls did. She seemed to actively shy away if one of the men made to touch her, or sit close to her. Toni found this very hard, all his female students were his 'little girls' and he liked to give them a hug, and there was nothing in any way sexual about this activity! He was 'Dad', and he had to touch them to teach chopping, to teach them to hold a knife, and he had to do it to the boys as well as the girls.

Katherine shrank from him the first few times, and then apologised that she had done it. He was puzzled, but determined to discover her story.

It took a fair bit of wheedling, but finally she opened up a little and he learned of her past, it explained a great deal. She had been a reluctant pole dancer and stripper from the age of seventeen. He wasn't sad to hear that she hated the life and was determined to better herself and never go back. He knew that the rest of his students, and certainly their families, would recoil from her if they knew her history.

She reminded him very strongly of another lost soul from his past, rudderless and in need of a helping hand in the right direction. He did a good line in saving lost souls, and her history wasn't as bad as the last one! He could help her, so he would! Decision made, he picked up the phone.

Ten minutes later he had achieved his objective, he had secured her an interview and hopefully a job in a Micro-brewpub and restaurant in Portland. Her references from him would be excellent and he'd talked Alec Hardison into giving her a chance without looking at any other references, that way no-one ever needed to know about her past. Toni was very conscious that being very pretty, and sexy enough to distract all the male staff, would not be to her advantage, so he had pinned Hardison down very firmly. She was to be given a proper chance!

Alec Hardison had been flicking through the client list. At this time no-one was exactly beating down their door for help. There were several people and organisations that had attracted their attention and would bear some watching, but at present nothing much was happening.

This was it, simple; a team of five was now a team of three. It could and had been done; they had thwarted the release of a deadly flu virus with only the three of them. True, Eliot had got shot, but they had survived. So three was possible, it just wasn't always practical! It affected the jobs they could do and how they could do them. They had various people they could call on for help. Tara would help and they trusted her. Quinn would help, they still weren't too sure about him! Shelly would and did help, but he was….inexperienced. Hitters were a great deal easier to find than brains, with no disrespect meant to Eliot! A lot of the problem was that they didn't feel they could_ trust_ another planner, Nate had his way, and it had become their way. They wanted to run their own crew, but Leverage International hadn't yet taken off. You couldn't choose a crew, the crew chose itself, and so far, it hadn't happened!

As he'd mulled over this enduring problem the phone at his elbow bleeped. Hardison picked it up expecting a potential client; the voice on the other end surprised him.

"Toni?"

"Hi, yes it is me. I have a favour to ask."

"No more bad guys?" Hardison joked. "We messed up the kitchen last time."

"No, but when I meet some I will know who I'm gonna call." Toni replied. Hardison couldn't help the grin that split his face as 'Ghostbusters!' flitted across his brain. "No bad guys. But I still need some help from you good guys."

"You want to speak to Eliot?"

"No. You! I have a girl who needs a job. Nice girl, real hard worker and very talented. She will do well if someone gives her a chance. I don't want Eliot to interview her. He will be….biased against her."

"Reeeally?" Hardison drew the word out thoughtfully. He could sort of understand that, when Eliot had, as part of a con, interviewed prospective cartoon artists he had sent almost all away in tears, and that had included the men. Eliot was very hard to please!

"Yes! Will you give her a trial? I want you to interview her and give her a post. I don't want her to think I got her the job."

"I see." Hardison didn't exactly see.

"She has her pride. She wants to be wanted for her true value and nothing else. She's not asking for hand outs and help."

"So why are you helping her?"

"Because….she _needs_ the help. She has no-one, absolutely no-one, and I happen to know she is broke. I like the girl, she's a lovely little lady and she deserves a chance. If you give her a trial you won't be disappointed, you will want to keep her."

"Ok, no worries. I'll give her a chance."

They arranged an interview in two days' time and Toni rang off, well satisfied.

Hardison reflected that, despite not really needing another employee in the restaurant and microbrewery they ran, any student of Toni's would be good. Toni had been adamant that the girl would work and her looks should not put anyone off. Poor girl obviously didn't have a lot going for her, probably why Toni insisted he conducted the interview rather that Eliot. Eliot was a whole lot too keen on the girls and far too easily distracted, he thought with an inward laugh. Not that Eliot would have persecuted this poor girl, but, depending on his mood, he might not have been as objective as Toni obviously wanted them to be. No matter, if this girl was that butt ugly she could always stay in the kitchen!

He returned to his reflection of the state of affairs outside the restaurant. He and Eliot were falling out far too often recently. So they argued, they always argued. Previously they could argue black was white and continue to work in harmony, but then Nate had always been there to pull them back to some sort of order. The harmony between the team had been lost, no longer were they a tight knit social group. Now he and Parker relaxed together and Eliot, well….who knew? He just seemed to fade into obscurity and leave them alone. He didn't think he and Parker drove him away by being too…lovey, but maybe that really was the problem. Three was a crowd!

Eliot was withdrawing, and it worried him. Recently they could never agree on jobs. The ones he wanted to do were the ones Eliot considered 'too much' which was damned silly. They were perfectly capable, especially with a bit of added Tara or Quinn. So many times recently it had fallen to Parker to pour oil on troubled waters. His girl was turning into a pretty good diplomat, luckily!

* * *

Two days later Katherine Cameron arrived for her interview. Hardison was gobsmacked! Now he knew why Toni had thrown her at him and not at Eliot! Damn it all, he had promised Toni he would take her on, and the whole restaurant staff would believe he had done it because he couldn't take his eyes off her. She was positively one of the most attractive, sexy girls he had ever seen, and that included Parker. Long mid-coffee brown hair, green almond eyes, a beautiful bone structure and flawless skin. She wasn't tall, only around five feet four, and she had a figure that made a man's mouth water. She was one sexy little package and Hardison found himself praying that this was not going to cause trouble!

Too late, he'd agreed. Eliot's reaction could only be guessed at! So he interviewed her, trying his very hardest not to stare and to treat her properly. Then he gave her the job and arranged that she could start as soon as she had finished her course. He was touched at how grateful she was to be offered the post, and he wondered then how much her looks had made her a target for both the men and the women, for exactly opposite reasons! He now understood Toni's concerns. He'd seen enough persecution to recognise a fellow sufferer. Hopefully she would fulfil Toni's faith in her and become a useful staff member in the restaurant.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_Three weeks later_

Tabby set to preparing the vegetables. Not the most thrilling job, but she was the newest and most junior employee, she had to prove her worth. She was here to learn. She'd admitted her lack of experience when she'd applied for the job, they knew she was just out of 'chef school' so she had to expect to be the one who got the less than spectacular tasks.

Her new boss (or to be exact, one of her new bosses) Alec Hardison, had seemed a genuinely nice man. Mikel, the head, chef had since told her that some of his ideas for the restaurant were a little….far out and wacky. He took a more active interest in the microbrewery side of the business. Apparently his partner, Eliot Spencer, whom she had still to meet, was far more switched on and traditional as far as the restaurant business was concerned. Alec Hardison liked to experiment, Eliot Spencer liked to _cook_, and Mikel informed her that Spencer was a very good chef in his own right. As far as Tabby understood they both had other interests, working together on jobs all over the States and occasionally abroad. When she asked Mikel what they did he merely replied 'The team help people', exactly what that meant she didn't know. So far she'd only met Alec Hardison, who was mid-twenties, and a good looking African-American; how many others besides Eliot Spencer made up the team she didn't know. Mikel referred to Eliot as Hardison's partner. Exactly what _that_ might mean she also didn't know!

She'd been here for five days now, and so far she'd seen no sign of either of her bosses, they were on one of their 'jobs'.

Katherine Cameron (aka Tabby Kat, or just Tabby to her friends) had led a varied life. Her childhood had been idyllic and was remembered through rose-tinted spectacles. Her father had been a hardworking ranch hand who had rescued her twenty year old mother from a life of pole dancing and stripping. He had fallen in love and married her as soon as he had got her pregnant. The marriage had worked. Her mother had worked in the diner, they had lived in a small house on the ranch and they had been happy.

Then, when Tabby was eleven, her father and his employer had died in a car wreck. From there her life had gone downhill, fast! Her father was dead, there was no insurance from his death, they'd lost their home and her mother was forced to move back to the city. Tabby's childhood of horses, swimming holes and the great outdoors was over. Her mother returned to the job she knew could make her money, at thirty-two she was still able to take her clothes off, and that was what she did. Tabby hated it! She'd known nothing of her mother's past until this! She hated her mother's job, she hated her new school, and she hated the city. Then things got worse, her mother re-married when Tabby was fourteen. The man was a slime ball. Externally he was smooth and handsome, inside he was a rat; violent and controlling. It didn't take Tabby long to realise where his eyes were straying and she learned to barricade her bedroom door. He used to taunt her, 'one day, little girl, I'm gonna teach you everything, one day you won't keep me out'

Tabby felt ill, constantly. She stayed out late, all night if she could, she crept into her bed via the window. She stayed at school for every club, she stayed in the library till closing time, anything to stay away from him. At fifteen she finally left home for good, packed her bag and never went back. Nothing could be worse than the constant fear that he would finally find her alone. She lived in homeless shelters for a while and lied about her age, moving from city to city, she worked, in bars, in diners, then in clubs, and she danced. Finally she took the same step her mother had taken and started to take her clothes off. She hated it, but she had to live, and it was, by comparison to some things she'd done, easy money. Taking your clothes off for men didn't hurt, they saw a body, not the real person. They could look, but she never ever descended to 'touch'. She knew that some girls made shed-loads of money at this game, but she couldn't bring herself to flaunt it any more than she already did, she wasn't an exhibitionist, she stuck with a reasonable living, not a fortune. She bore it all behind a mask and saved every cent she could until she had enough money to buy her way out. The Chef's Course had been her saviour. Now she was going to make something proper of her life. Pole dancing was her past!

* * *

Eliot Spencer sat down at the table by the window in booth six, where he usually sat. No need to advertise his arrival, he was in no hurry. Mikel would notice soon enough and would bring coffee or send someone out with it. He could just as easily have stayed upstairs and had coffee in front of the big television screen with Hardison and Parker, but sometimes he needed just a bit of distance. He knew they wouldn't follow him, they knew enough to respect his need of privacy, and they too got a bit worn by the tension which seemed to be there so much of the time now. They still worked together well; they just couldn't seem to play together.

He picked up the menu and stared at it rather desperately. He'd promised Mikel this would get done, he had to put his mind to it. It was definitely looking jaded, a bit the way he felt at the moment, it was a year since they'd given the menu a proper overhaul. This place had a reputation for good food, but it was also seen as somewhere quite fresh and vibrant, and if he didn't do something soon that reputation would be tarnished. But no matter how many times he went over this he just couldn't pin it down. For one thing he kept getting distracted by the team and the jobs, which too was a worry. He couldn't seem to concentrate on either problem properly. He needed help!

Hardison was innovative, but no chef. Mikel was a great chef but too….conservative. If he tried to get both in on the act he would wind up acting as referee and losing his temper.

What goes around comes around. It was a bit like how Parker had to come between him and Hardison just lately. Damn it all, he didn't like falling out, bickering was one thing, but at the moment they just couldn't agree on anything! They didn't see things from the same perspective. They had always bickered, even when Nate was there, but he had kept them honest! Hah, that wasn't quite how to put it! But Nate's jobs had been doable, they might not have always agreed with his methods, but they'd trusted him to set them tasks that were possible. Climbing the outside of a twenty story building in day light without being noticed? Well, he'd done it! But Hardison had this awful habit of wanting to fly before he could walk, he just wanted to commit them to too much.

A team of three was hard, despite the fact they could call on others to help. Grifters were difficult to trust, they were all so used to telling lies that you never knew what you were going to get. Realistically it all came down to trust. They trusted each other, and so far they'd not really found anyone else they trusted in the same way. So Eliot much preferred to keep the jobs smaller, then they could manage without extra help. Hardison wanted to go too big, like when he grifted he always overplayed his hand. Eliot felt the responsibility for keeping them safe very keenly. He wasn't sure if the other two had actually heard his promise to Sophie but 'until my dying day' meant something to him, it wasn't just words; they were his baby brother and sister. Sophie had trusted him to do it and it made him cautious in a way he hadn't been when Nate was around. It caused friction.

He hated the way they didn't get along at the moment, he loved them both dearly, but sometimes he didn't…..like them! Way back during the first year or so of their relationship he had considered making a move on Parker. He'd not been immune to her physical attractions, her beauty and athleticism would be a turn on for any red-blooded male. He'd held back because the relationship between the three of them worked as a friendship and he could see that any move on his part might finish the crew as an entity. Now, looking back, he wondered if it had been a sort of subliminal realisation of the truth. People labelled Parker as crazy, and it wasn't really fair, she was brave, perceptive and intelligent but just a little ….skewed in her outlook on life. The crew as individuals were all a little crazy in their own way, Eliot had accepted that they all had to be to live this kind of life. Hardison and Parker both lived in a bit of a fantasy world, never in a million years would either of them fit into 'real life'. Sophie too, her world had been invention, while Nate, well, after the tragic death of his son and the disintegration of his marriage he'd found comfort in the bottom of a bottle. Hopefully now he and Sophie were together they were coping with real life as it was. He truly believed he was the only one who had a proper grasp on the real world, the only one who would survive if he had to do an ordinary job. That didn't mean his history was simple, his crimes were the bloodiest by far, but he could at least see the truth!

Parker's particular brand of crazy, he now acknowledged, would never have mixed well with his own! She would have driven him nuts as a lover, and he would have been no good for her either. Physically it would probably have been good, for a while; but Parker was not only an adrenaline junkie, she was also a bit of a pain junkie, look at the way she always poked at his bruises! He wasn't into pain along with the sex, there was quite enough violence in his life already. Parker didn't need _him_, and he sure as Hell didn't need _her_ despite the fact they understood each other better than the rest of the crew did. That was the problem, they were too much alike. Parker needed Hardison's stability, he was her anchor, he stopped her from becoming_ too_ crazy, and she made him spread his wings.

What Eliot needed was his own anchor, and since he wasn't looking he would probably never find it, or her! He knew he deserved no-one after what he'd done, his past was full of shadows, no girl would ever want to be tied to him. He could charm a girl, any girl if he put his mind to it, but they never, ever saw anything beneath the surface, he just wouldn't let anyone in. Only he knew of the dark corner in his soul, where the madness was trapped inside, never, ever to be allowed out; but in the wrong circumstances it _could_ escape, and then what? He knew he was…...impossible and unreasonable on a long term basis.

And here he was again, staring at the menu and drifting off to the other problem. He'd got to get a grip, sort the menu then sort the team!

* * *

"Katherine," Mikel bowled across the kitchen.

"Tabby, please." Tabby told him for about the tenth time.

"Yes, Tabby" He paused again. "Why was that?"

"As a child I was Kat, which got round to Tabby Kat, and finally just Tabby. Please, I don't answer well to Katherine."

"Fine, Tabby." He regarded her rather fondly, she was pretty, she brightened the place up no end, and so far she was doing just fine. The next few minutes could prove interesting. "Can you take coffee to table six, please? Big cup, lots of cream, refills whenever he asks."

"Sure." Tabby collected the cup and coffee pot and filled a cream jug. This was obviously an important customer. She headed to booth six.

Seated by the window was a dark haired man, somewhere in his thirties, very casually dressed, casual almost to the point of being scruffy. He wore a short sleeved tee shirt over a long sleeved top, it was hardly designer gear. His hair was long and layered, the longest layers touching his shoulders and he was sporting what could best be described as 'designer stubble.' To Tabby it looked rather more as if he'd not actually decided which bit he was going to shave. He had a definite soul patch and a stripe down his chin which was thicker than the rest, but he certainly hadn't shaved any of it for a couple of days. He was definitely a bit 'rough around the edges' the way she remembered her father, he certainly didn't look like an important customer!

He was studying the menu with intense concentration. The thought suddenly shot through Tabby's head that he could be one of those restaurant inspectors they were warned about, dressed the way he was to put everyone off their guard. Well she was now on her guard, very much so! When she put the coffee cup down in front of him he acknowledged it rather absently.

When the coffee cup was placed in front of Eliot he was still miles away. He glanced up to acknowledge the arrival to be greeted by a sight he was not expecting.

She was an absolute stunner!

And it wasn't just the face, she had a proper figure, not the clothes rack that the fashion industry seemed to think was necessary. She didn't look like a model, he knew, he'd dated plenty of models! Your average red-blooded male wanted a bit more to get hold of, something soft to hold against him, to get your hands on, Eliot didn't much like bony.

Good grief, where the blazes had she sprung from?

As this shot through his brain at a zillion miles an hour, he realised this must be the new girl he had complained about Hardison taking on. He had only ceased his complaints when Hardison had pointed out that it was a favour for Toni, and it was true that they could afford it! It also registered in his brain that Hardison had said she was interested in drawing and design as well as the restaurant trade.

Toni's new girl, a fresh set of eyes! The menu!

"Hey, sweetheart. You're new here, what do you think of this?" He waved the menu under her nose.

His voice was a low, gravelly southern drawl, unexpected, Tabby registered. And his eyes, now fixed on her, were a vivid blue, even more unexpected. He also had small scars on his upper lip and above his eyebrow. Sort of heroically damaged somehow! Tabby felt a frisson of awareness shoot through her. Damn it, unshaven or not, he was attractive! Was that how he got people to talk?

She had met enough men in her short life to be very objective about things. So far she'd not found a man she was willing to give herself to, she might have worked at taking her clothes off, but she'd kept her distance from everyone. She knew perfectly well that most men who saw her were interested in one thing only, her body. Well she wasn't playing that game, her body was the only thing she had to offer, and she wasn't wasting the one opportunity.

Now this man… for once she felt an immediate connection. She tried to stifle the feeling.

"I need an opinion." He grinned at her.

It was such an infectious grin that she found herself smiling back instead of remaining aloof. It crossed her mind that he was asking the wrong person for opinions, if he wanted to know about the menu he should ask someone who knew it better than she did! This was obviously some sort of test, she would try her best.

"Well, I'll help if I can, but since I'm new I don't know much."

"What do you think of the chilli for a start?"

"Umm, it's very popular." She hedged. So far she'd not sampled that much off the menu, and the chilli was so popular it was sold out by the time any of the staff had chance to eat.

"You don't know? You'd better try some, how can you help customers if you don't have a real opinion?" He treated her to a small frown, and then raised his eyebrows. Tabby stared in fascination, it was a bit like several seasons in a moment, he had an intimidating frown and a devastating smile. He continued. "Come and sit here and we'll take a look through it, see if you have any ideas."

"I…um. I need to get back to work!" She threw a rather nervous glance in the direction of the kitchen; she wouldn't want Mikel to think she was flirting with the customers. It was an original line in 'chat up' she had to concede that. But then again, she mustn't even look as if she was falling for it!

"No you don't. Come on, sweetheart, sit there." He waved his hand to the opposite seat in the booth.

"No, I really can't." She insisted rather sharply. "I really have to go."

He stared at her for a second with those intense eyes, she felt a bit like a rabbit in the headlights, then he gave a bark of laughter. "Oh, I see. I'm sorry, I presumed Mikel had …..Obviously not!" He stood up and held out his hand to her. "Eliot Spencer."

For two seconds Tabby stared at him in utter disbelief. This unlikely individual was her boss and she had been downright rude. Why hadn't Mikel warned her? She felt sick. She closed her eyes and wished the ground could swallow her up. She opened her eyes again and did the only thing she reasonably could, she shook the proffered hand. "Pleased to meet you." She muttered in a strangled tone.

"Come on, sweetheart, sit down. I want to revamp the menu and a fresh set of eyes would be a great help. What's your name?"

"Katherine." She muttered huskily. "Tabby, actually."

"As in Tabby Kat, no doubt." He treated her to that smile again. Tabby nodded dumbly, he'd understood that instantly, she tried to smile back, but her insides just turned to marshmallow. She perched nervously on the bench opposite him. How on earth could she react in that ridiculous way to a man who just _smiled_ at her?

He was now regarding her with amusement. "Relax, I don't bite. Not often anyhow." He smiled engagingly. "Now Hardison said you were a bit of an artist."

"Not professionally, I can draw, I loved it when I was at school." In fact she'd wanted to go to Art College in her dim and distant childhood.

"Well, I want to redesign the menu as well as change the content, maybe you can help, or even take it over. I'm a bit clueless about that sort of thing. I know what I like, but unless it goes on the plate I can't produce it!" He pondered for a few seconds, turning the menu between his fingers. "Actually Parker can draw, maybe she can help." Visions of Parker's design for a birthday card floated through his memory. "Or maybe not!" He added with a chuckle and a roll of his eyes.

"No?" Tabby could only look confused.

"Very long story."

"Who is Parker?"

"The third member of the crew. I presume you know that we take on clients who need help. The crew have some fairly unique talents, and Parker can be a little….strange! I expect you will meet Parker later when she and Hardison come down to eat, I told them I'm not cooking tonight so I expect they will come down for lunch."

So the crew was three, two men and a girl, but exactly what did they do Tabby wondered? She would love to ask, but she didn't feel she could pry on such a sort acquaintance.

Mikel appeared behind the bar, Eliot called out to him. "Hey Mik, coffee for Tabby? She's helping me go through the menu. I'll come and give a hand in a while to make up for stealing her."

Mikel vanished into the kitchen, why was he not surprised! Realistically he would have been more surprised if Tabby had returned immediately to the kitchen, Eliot was pretty predictable in some ways! He reappeared a few moments later with more coffee and a second cup. By this time Eliot had moved round to sit next to her so they could look at the menu more easily. Tabby was so embarrassed, here she was, the most junior employee, drinking coffee with the boss instead of getting on with her work!

"Ok, let's go through this, let me know what you think, _really_ think, don't be polite. I don't want polite." He threw her a playful scowl. Tabby's heart did a little skip, this was utterly ridiculous, it must be because he was her boss that she felt so wired sitting next to him. "Come on, I want to change things, help me to do it, properly."

So they sat and went through the menu, and Tabby relaxed, and forgot about being shy, or nervous, or aloof. He wanted answers, he wanted to know exactly what she thought and why. She forgot she was supposed to be working, she got totally engrossed in the conversation, totally engrossed in him and the intensity he brought to this task.

Half an hour later Mikel reappeared at the booth. "Eliot, I really do need the vegetables finished."

Eliot snapped the menu shut, jumped to his feet and grabbed her hand. "Out you come, back to work, missy."

Tabby could feel her face burning as she turned to hurry back to the kitchen, apologising to Mikel as she went.

Mikel grinned at her. "Hardly your fault, now go and get on with it." He watched her disappear into the kitchen. "Eliot…."

"Don't even go there!" Eliot retaliated. "She's on the staff, and you don't need her leaving next week."

"True. But I also like her, she's a really nice girl, I don't need her…..upset."

"Now why should I upset her?" Eliot growled softly.

"Why indeed! I'm just asking, please, don't do it!"

Eliot scowled at him. "I'm going to help with the vegetables since I've delayed her. Is that all right with you?" His tone was distinctly sarky.

Mikel gave a small nod of assent, how could he argue, Eliot was his boss too.

* * *

Tabby sped back to the pile of vegetables and dived in, two minutes later Eliot joined her.

"But…."

"But nothing. I'll help you catch up. I do know how to use a knife on vegetables as well as other things." She regarded him in puzzlement. "Hold it this way, cuts onions, cucumber." He turned the knife over. "Hold it this way…" He stopped and gave a small shake of his head. "Never mind." He set to peeling and chopping with gusto.

He didn't leave until the pile of vegetables was finished, he brushed her thanks aside with a casual. "You're welcome." Then he vanished out of the door back up the stairs to the offices.

Tabby got on with her work, but she couldn't help the way her thoughts kept wandering back to her so unexpected encounter with Eliot Spencer. He had been a million miles from what she had expected.

The lunchtime rush was almost over when Alec Hardison, Eliot and a tall, thin, beautiful blonde girl came back into the restaurant. They found themselves a table and Mikel went out to talk, he came back in with their orders which were swiftly prepared.

"Tabby." Mikel called her over. "Take the drinks out, Eliot says to go and meet Parker."

Tabby did as she was asked and was introduced to the blonde girl, who appeared to have no other name than Parker. Tabby wondered, but how did you ask? Parker was a little…odd. The close friendship and respect between the crew was pretty obvious, but Eliot still scowled at some of Parker's sallies. They seemed to have perfected the art of throwing non-abrasive insults at each other. Tabby found it all a little strange.

Eliot had said the team had some unusual talents, what they were she just couldn't begin to imagine. What did the team do? What were their talents? What did Eliot do? She had to admit that was the question that interested her the most!

Mid-afternoon they left, and that was the last Tabby saw of any of them that day.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Eliot took a break from hitting the bag. He sat down against the wall of the gym and took a long pull at the water bottle. The clock stood at six in the morning. He'd been in here for over an hour. In a while he'd do some sit ups, and maybe lift a few weights before he showered and went to make breakfast. They would be leaving around eight-thirty to their next job in Anaheim. Nothing too complex hopefully.

He was feeling unsettled, he often came in here early mornings, or late at night if he couldn't sleep. Hardison, and probably Parker too, would be sleeping in the room at the very far end of the building. As Hardison put it, as far as possible from the weight lifting grunts!

He'd not intended to come in so early but last night hadn't been exactly….what he'd planned. Most nights before a job he just slept in his own apartment rather than his room here, though often he did not sleep well. He didn't get the nightmares he used to, but he still found nights alone not particularly restful. He slept best when he'd worn himself out, specifically if he'd gone out on the town and found a girl for exactly that purpose! It was just a fact of his life, the team had recognised and ignored it, he did no-one any harm, the girls he picked up knew exactly what they were getting into, a one nighter!

But last night he'd gone out, feeling the need to be relaxed, he'd done exactly what he normally did, and still he couldn't sleep, and he couldn't put his finger on exactly why.

He moved onto the mat and started his sit-ups. The exercise was so familiar that his mind wandered. He found himself thinking about Tabby again. It had dawned on him half way through last night that the girl he had picked up looked a bit like her. He then found himself wondering if he'd picked her up _because_ she looked like Tabby. At that point he'd got up and left her apartment, he'd driven around for a while, then he'd come back here and slept on the couch for an hour. That was how he had ended up in the gym at five in the morning.

As he did his sit-ups he found himself thinking about her green eyes, and wondering how they would glow as he gently eased… _God dammit!_

He threw himself flat on his back and stared at the ceiling. What the Hell was he_ thinking_ here?He'd met the girl once, she was his _employee_ dammit. She was _not_ available and most certainly not up for dragging into his bed! She just wasn't that sort of girl. But he couldn't help what his brain kept telling him, he wanted her!

Stupid, Stupid,_ Stupid_! Get over it!

He got up and lifted a few weights, because you couldn't do that and not concentrate. Then he showered and headed for the kitchen. By seven he was cooking breakfast for all, Parker wandered out in her nightshirt, which was little more than a thigh length tee shirt. Eliot regarded her with a jaundiced air, she was hopeless. Did she really have so little idea how she should behave around men in general?

"Do you have to walk about in your night shirt?"

"Why not? It's only you!" She replied innocently.

"Yes, but I'm not….I'm….." Words failed him. "Go and get dressed." He growled. "Breakfast is ready."

By eight he was ready to leave, he wandered down to the restaurant while he waited for the others to finish their various packing. Mikel was, as usual, already there. He glanced around the large room. It was too much to hope that Tabby might actually be here at this hour, and she wasn't.

He found himself wondering where she lived, if she was still sleeping, he imagined her snuggled into the duvet with her hair spread over the pillow. He pulled himself up short. What the blazes was wrong with him? He never, ever thought this way about a girl any more, never ever! Good thing they were off on a job, maybe he'd get to hit a few bad guys and he could get his brain back into a normal gear.

* * *

Tabby sat in her rather dingy little apartment and rehashed the menu as they had talked about it. She wasn't due into work until just before midday so she had time to do this, and hopefully to go to the library and do a design on the computer which she could print out. By nine-thirty she was in the library doing just that. It was only a first draft, but she wanted Eliot to see that she was taking this seriously.

When she arrived at work a couple of hours later she was disappointed to learn from Mikel that the team had gone on a job.

* * *

Four days later they returned and Eliot arrived in booth six sporting a cut lip, a bruised cheek and the suspicions of a black eye.

"What happened? Are you all right?" Tabby asked in concern as she placed his coffee before him.

He looked at her, bewilderment obvious in his blue eyes. "What?" He blinked "Oh, this? That's nothing, you should see the other guys!"

It was Tabby's turn to look confused.

He relented. "That's my job, sweetheart. It's what I do. I watch their backs, I'm the hitter, the tough guy, the enforcer. I take the punishment for the team. Sometimes it hurts. Sometimes far more than others."

Tabby stared at him in disbelief. He was actually telling her he was a hired thug!

Eliot wasn't unaware of her thoughts, generally it didn't bother him, take him or leave him, he didn't care. He didn't discuss his day job with anyone but the crew, and they relied on him to watch their backs. It wasn't his only role, but it was his most vital one; without him the team just couldn't function. Their jobs involved going up against people with no scruples, people who didn't care who they hurt. Both Hardison and Parker could fight, but they couldn't fight while trying to do their own jobs, so he had their backs, always.

He watch the expressions cross Tabby's face and saw the uneasiness settle in her eyes. Then to his surprise he saw the shutters come down as she blanked out what she was feeling. That gave him quite a shock, he'd not taped her as devious, but her present expression made him think of….Sophie when she was changing characters ready for a con. He wasn't at all sure he liked what he was seeing.

Did it matter what this girl thought? He never worried what any girl thought about him, he wasn't interested in any long term relationship so it didn't matter what they thought. There had been a time when he'd tried relationships, but it just didn't work, not the way he lived. So he'd given up on that, no involvement, no strings, that was the key. But as he thought_ that_ he realised that it wasn't true, generally he might not care, but he didn't want Tabby to despise him. She was cute, he liked her, and anyhow, he wanted her to help him with the menu. That was reason enough to try to explain this, having convinced himself this was the reason for his actions, he acted.

"Sit!" He pointed to the bench. "Please." He added as an afterthought.

Tabby perched herself reluctantly, she could hardly refuse, he was her boss. She wasn't at all sure she was going to like what she was about to hear, had her idol already revealed clay feet?

He treated her to one of his charming smiles. "Tabby Kat, the people we help have nowhere else to turn. People who have been cheated, lied to, who have lost their life savings, their reputations, even their loved ones because of uncaring, money grabbing companies and individuals."

"But…..if they've been cheated shouldn't they go to the police?" Tabby interrupted him.

"They've tried, in most cases they have failed because recourse through the courts costs money, a great deal of money. In many cases what has happened may not have been illegal, it was immoral. The law does not compensate those who have suffered morally. We are, in most cases, a last resort."

Tabby looked at him with dawning comprehension, he saw the shutters recede. If he'd not been so practiced at reading grifters, liars and cheats he probably wouldn't have noticed any difference.

"So if these people have lost everything, who pays?"

"Hopefully the guys who caused it. The bald truth is that we skate around the law, we pick up where the law leaves off. The only way to get back at most of these guys is…not legal. They steal things, we steal them back, both physically and electronically. That's why we don't talk about it, and why you mustn't repeat this. We are con-men, when we started Nate was the only one who wasn't a criminal. Since then he's been to jail, so he's now an ex-con, and he's retired anyhow."

Tabby stared in amazement. "You are a criminal?" She whispered.

Eliot shrugged. "Reformed. Wanted in five countries, but not the States, not officially."

"What did you do?" The questioned just slipped out, and the second she said it she knew it was a mistake. "Sorry, I don't expect you to tell me." She murmured, embarrassed again.

Eliot regarded her with a furrowed brow. "You won't get an answer. I was in the military; things I did and saw then were bad enough. Since then I've been a mercenary, and …..worse. You don't want or need to know. Even the rest of the crew don't know. What I do now will never make up for the wrong I've done, but at least I'm now on the right side of the fence. We are the good guys." He gave her a small smile. "And if you ever tell any of that I will have to kill you."

Tabby stared, wide eyed at him, she certainly wasn't hiding or guarding now!

"Don't look so worried." He murmured. "If you don't tell things will be fine, but if you _did_ tell I would probably end up dead." The look of horror that crossed her face made him feel guilty. He dropped his hand on to hers. "It won't happen if you don't tell."

"So….why do you do it?"

Good question, it felt good to help, and what else was he any good at? One day, maybe, he would get to the Oklahoma ranch that was quietly waiting for him and leave all this behind, raise a family, have a normal life, but that wouldn't be yet. Before he did that he had to get past the black guilt that still festered like a poison in his soul. It had been retreating, but that day in the warehouse a year or more back had brought it all home to roost again. He'd just added to the burden that day, they'd been evil men, but it had still been lives taken. Only Nate knew exactly what he'd done that day, and may well have to do again just to keep the team safe. It was a heavy responsibility sometimes.

"Nate got us into it, before Nate we just… got on with our less than honest, and truthfully, less than desirable, lives. We got recruited for a job, as a team, a one off. The guy cheated us and tried to kill us, Nate organised us to get our revenge. In getting that revenge we also righted a wrong and made epic amounts of money courtesy of Alec Hardison esq."

"What did he do?" Tabby questioned softly.

"Hardison is a computer hacker, the best, there's nothing he can't do with a computer. Parker is a thief, pickpocket, locksmith and all round athlete, she can break in almost anywhere. Sophie was our grifter and Nate was the mastermind who pulled it all together. They retired and got married."

"To each other?"

"Yep" Eliot replied with a grin.

"And you?"

"I told you, I'm the muscles, the one who watches their backs and gets hit for a living. Since Nate retired we sort of mastermind ourselves, but we do argue rather a lot"

"Oh, I see. " And she did see, she hadn't been unaware of the slight tension between what were obviously good friends. "So…."

"Hush, Kitten. No more questions." He squeezed her hand. "I get hit for a living, never be surprised at the bruises, they will happen. Now go and get me some more coffee."

As she retreated across the restaurant he just wondered at himself. He had never ever opened up to anyone like that before. He barely knew her, the only ones who knew about this life, properly, were those who lived it too, like Tara and Quinn. Shelly knew, Bonnano knew, but he'd never told a girl before, not _any_ of it, let alone what he'd just told Tabby! There was something about this girl, something about her eyes. She made him think of Sophie, there was compassion about her eyes, an understanding of _him_ that just had him spilling his guts to her. And he should never have done it! This whole thing made him very conscious of how much he missed Sophie, she'd been there, warm and reliable and caring and it was empty without her. She'd been his big sister and a bit of a mother figure all rolled into one.

Dammit, he'd intended that this job would sort out the weird way he'd felt the night before he'd left. Now he'd come back and behaved as oddly as he had that night. It made him think of Sophie once again, with her talent for manipulation, her 'neoro-lingusitic programming'. Surely Tabby wasn't…..?

No. That was ridiculous. She didn't know him and would have no reason to do anything like that. The whole thing was down to his over active libido. He would just have to be more careful around the girl.

* * *

Tabby found that this was the way it was. Eliot appeared in the restaurant on an irregular basis. Sometimes he would arrive for coffee and ask her to join him to continue with the menu discussions. Some days he would arrive in the kitchen and cook, Mikel just let him get on with it, sometimes he helped and sometimes he just did his own thing.

He didn't spend all his time in the restaurant, even when she knew Hardison and Parker were at home, Eliot was sometimes absent for hours at a time. He obviously had a life outside of the crew and the restaurant. Tabby felt…..a little deflated at the idea. She wondered if he had a girlfriend. She was sure he must do, he was altogether too ….attractive and charming not to have a woman somewhere. He was certainly not the classic 'tall dark and handsome' in the mode of Piers Brosnan or even Tom Selleck, he wasn't the large, impressive tough guy like Jason Statham, he looked strong, but he wasn't huge and super-muscly; there was just something about him that was really….engaging.

The crew also worked, by the fourth week they had been away four times, for periods varying from two to six days.

* * *

Friday morning and Tabby was on vegetable preparation again. Mikel came over and presented her with the requisite coffee mug.

"I think you know the drill by now." He commented dryly.

"Oh! Oh yes, right away." Tabby couldn't control the way her heart leapt, he'd been gone for four days, and it had seemed like a lifetime. She headed for the coffee pots and Mikel followed her to hover.

"Um, Tabby?"

"Yes?"

"Be careful."

Tabby looked up at him warily, he was a nice man, in his mid-forties, unflappable and fair in his dealings with the staff. "Careful?" She questioned.

"You know what I'm saying, I don't want to see you ….hurt."

"Hurt?" Tabby didn't know how to respond to this.

"Yes, hurt!

"Mikel, what you see is all there is." She returned brightly. "Truthfully!"

"Truthfully," Mikel murmured. "Can you tell me you are _not_ already a little bit in love?"

He moved back to his work station and left her alone. Tabby stared at him for a second and then busied herself with the coffee. Oh, God, was it that obvious? And she knew in her heart it wasn't just a little bit, it was far more than that! He just….drew her, he was like a beacon in the dark; no, not even in the dark, she would have been drawn to him even in a crowd of a million. She knew him only from sitting here in this room, yet she_ knew_ he was brave, strong, loyal and kind. She also knew he was dangerous. The truth was she only thought she knew what he was: he was utterly charming, and wasn't that exactly what her mother had fallen for when she had remarried? There was a fair chance that underneath it all he was a lying, scheming louse but she couldn't bring herself to even think of that! The whole package was, for her, irresistible, but she knew she was being naïve!

She hurried out with the coffee, determined to keep a tight rein on her emotions. Eliot was studying his mobile, when she put the coffee on the table he looked up and his face split into that devastatingly endearing smile. All Tabby's resolutions flew straight out of the window, she was a lost cause!

* * *

These first two months at the restaurant had been a revelation to Tabby. The work she enjoyed, she worked hard, often she was the first to arrive (other than Mikel), and the last to leave. She felt she had to do this, not just because she wanted to impress her dedication on everyone, but because certain days found her not contributing to the kitchen work as much as she ought! Those were the days when Eliot arrived and commandeered her to talk over menus and recipes.

At least, that was what they were supposed to be talking about, but somehow they drifted off subject very frequently. Tabby was pretty sure she never really instigated it, she tried very hard not to ask him probing questions, she so badly wanted to know about him, and the team and his life and….everything. But she had recognised from the very first that he was private, he didn't want to talk, or at least, he didn't want questions.

So she didn't ask, and for some strange reason he let a great deal more slip than she would have expected. He didn't tell her anything directly, but she garnered a great deal of information from…nuances and insinuations. She wasn't even sure that he realised how much he was letting slip, so she held her peace.

She still knew nothing of what he had done, although she could make a pretty fair guess, but she had discovered what it had done to _him_. He had died inside, but his association with the crew, his real friends now, had given him his life back. He had alluded to the two people who had pulled him back from the brink, and one she now realised had been Toni. She was surprised because she hadn't known of the connection between him and Toni, but that did explain how she'd arrived here! That alone started her wondering a little. The other, she assumed, had been Nate. He said he didn't feel for anyone or anything, but that was patently untrue. He might bury it but he cared deeply about a great many things.

She realised he was a good man who had been driven by unscrupulous bastards to do bad things. He had been taken advantage of at a time when he'd been too traumatised to resist. She also guessed that some of the things he'd done had been forced upon him by threats against people he knew and possibly loved. Since then his guilt had caused him to give up on himself, but Toni and Nate had turned the tide.

He was intensely loyal and passionate about the things he believed important, and the safety of his friends was, to him, one of those very important things! He was a man's man, he liked hunting and shooting and fishing; he liked women and they liked him! He was also keenly intelligent, moody and impatient, it didn't take much to make him fly. Not that he'd ever got angry with her, but he snarled about Hardison on a regular basis. He might spend his days punching bad guys, but he loved children and animals and the mistreatment of either was guaranteed to get a reaction.

The man was an enigma, and Tabby knew perfectly well that she'd fallen for him by their second meeting. She also knew he wasn't interested in any sort of relationship, so she had to cover up and carry on.


	4. Chapter 4

A Bit Late, but I've just realised I can add a comment or two here. I hope you are enjoying this so far, there's a lot more to come. One point. The story was conceived before the series was cancelled and was adapted without Sophie and Nate, at the time I christened Kat as Tabby, I had no idea that a girl with this name would crop up in series 5. Very weird coincidence! If no-one had realised yet , I'm a confirmed Kaniac.

* * *

Chapter 4

They were home. This time they had been gone for a whole seven days, where she knew not. She had felt….deserted, which was insane because she had no reason to feel she was in any way part of their lives, or rather, Eliot's life!

Eliot had arrived in booth number six as was his wont. Tabby arrived happily with the coffee. It took her no more than two seconds to realise that something here wasn't right.

He was not his normal self, in fact he was tidier than usual, he tended to slop into the restaurant because he didn't need to make the effort. Today he had shaved, although he still had the soul patch and the strip, and his clothes were….just different.

When he smiled at her there was a strain about the eyes and lips, and for once it wasn't just weariness.

"How's things?" she enquired rather cautiously.

"Fine." He replied.

Or not! It then dawned on Tabby that it wasn't strain, it was pain. He was definitely in some discomfort. She sat down opposite him. As usual there were bruises, on his cheek and on his chin, but they were not enough to cause that look.

"Where does it hurt?"

He raised his eyebrows at her, he hadn't realised it was that obvious, he was used to pain, he generally covered it well. "It'll be fine when the pain killers kick in."

Tabby looked down at his hand on the table, all the knuckles were covered in thick sticking plaster. She couldn't help herself, she lightly brushed her fingers over his, avoiding the injuries. "What happened?"

"It got a little rough."

More than a little by the look of things. She wondered, from the look of his eyes, if he was a little concussed. "Shouldn't you have gone to the hospital?"

"Not likely, hate hospitals. They ask too many questions."

"But…. You could say you fell?"

Eliot gave a small bark of laughter, and winced. "Somehow I don't think they would believe that." He reached forward to get the cream and his jacket swung open slightly, just enough for Tabby to see the blood seeping through his shirt.

"You're bleeding!" She exclaimed.

He looked down at his front. "Dammit. I didn't stick that together too well." He pushed himself to his feet. "I'd better go and do a bit more plastering."

Tabby jumped to her feet. "I'm coming with you."

He stared at her, she wondered for a second if she'd pushed a boundary too far just by saying that!

"Pardon?"

"Well, you didn't make much of a job of it the first time. Maybe I can do better."

The ghost of a smile crossed his strained features. "Probably! I can't really see to do it, if I lie flat I can't see and mirrors just make things so complicated."

To her surprise he caught her hand in his undamaged one and led her up the stairs to their office.

Parker and Hardison were perusing files.

"Couldn't they have helped you?" Tabby demanded a little hotly.

"We tried." Parker retaliated. "He's not the easiest of patients. Maybe Nurse Tabby will have better luck!

Tabby flushed at her sarky tone, she saw Hardison elbow her in the ribs. "We are not too good with injuries." He elaborated. "Eliot is usually the doctor."

Eliot sat carefully on the wide couch.

"Pain killers not working?" Hardison enquired. Tabby couldn't believe how casual they were about this, his friend was bleeding everywhere and he was just…! She looked at Hardison again and realised she was doing him an injustice, he_ was_ concerned. He regarded Tabby solemnly. "He takes being injured very lightly."

"Shit happens." Eliot grated. He was fumbling to unbutton his shirt, obviously the knuckles were sore enough to make even that difficult. Tabby knelt in front of him and pushed his hands away so she could do it, she missed the look that passed between Parker and Hardison.

She was supposed to be looking only at the injury, but she couldn't help but register the obvious strength of his muscled chest, and the scars he already bore! The wound across his abdomen was going to add to those!

The dressing taped to the wound was red with blood and it was seeping out of the bottom.

"Lie down." She ordered sharply.

"Bossy." Eliot grumbled softly, but he did as he was told.

Tabby carefully removed the sticking plaster and dressings and steri-strips, it wasn't hard, it was so wet it was barely stuck at all. What greeted her was not what she had expected. She hadn't really known what this would be, but she had somehow expected a gash, or a nasty scrape. This was neither, it was obviously a knife wound and it was deep. It needed stitching, not sticking!

"This needs stitching!"

"I can't stitch myself." Eliot growled.

"Then go to hospital!"

"No! And that pair are useless, they won't do it either, so stick it up."

Tabby looked at the other two, Parker had now arrived at her side armed with a complete first aid kit, pads, gauze, antiseptic, the works!

"The steri-strips aren't enough. He wanted us to stitch it. Neither of us can. I thought I could but when it came down to it this was as far as I got." She held up the threaded needle. "Can you do it?" Tabby stared at her in disbelief as she continued. "It needs doing before it swells any more. We've kept it down with ice so far."

Tabby looked back at the wound and then up to Eliot's face. "Please?" He murmured softly.

She stared back at the gaping wound. "But you need anaesthetic of some sort."

"Ice." Parker insisted. "We can use ice. I should have got something from the emergency room or somewhere but he didn't tell us how bad it was and now, well, that will take time."

She looked back at Parker. "You do it."

Parker shuddered, "I can't. I thought I could, but I can't."

Tabby slowly took the needle from her hand. From what she'd heard Parker could jump off a high rise building on a zip line, but she couldn't do this? Well, she could stand naked in front of a crowd of people, so could _she_ do this?

She had to, for Eliot. She'd once had her arm stitched when she had fallen off a swing as a child. Once she'd had it numbed she had watched with interest as the doctor sewed, she could remember what he'd done, so…she had to try. But to push a needle into Eliot….?

"No different from an injection, just several times." Eliot grated hoarsely. "Do it, please. I won't move, just get on with it."

"Eliot…" Tabby entreated softly.

"Dammit, girl. I've been tortured. What's a few stitches?"

Tortured? Tabby stared at him in horror, she looked back at the wound and steeled herself. Hardison arrived with the ice and handed Eliot a leather belt. Eliot took it with a grunt of laughter.

"It might have a few teeth marks in it!"

"I reckon I can spare it, man." Hardison replied sardonically.

Tabby gathered her courage, removed the ice and shoved the needle in, she felt his muscles tense but he didn't make a sound. She tuned it all out, the way she did when she was on stage with all those eyes on her, the first push of the needle was the worst.

The cut was over five inches long, she closed it with just four stitches, far less than a professional would have used, but she couldn't face putting him through any more. The bits in between could be plastered, it would scar worse than if it had been done professionally, but there was little she could do about that! Only once did he make a sound and she didn't look at him at all.

Hardison and Parker hovered, handing her scissors, needles, ice and mopping up as necessary. By the time she had finished she felt numb, her insides were churning and her fingers trembling.

"That looks good, Tabby." Hardison placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You done real good, girl. And he's not passed out yet."

Tabby finally ventured a look at Eliot's face; pale, sweaty and pained was the only description. Suddenly she had to get out, get to the bathroom before she threw up.

"Bathroom." She gasped, struggling to her feet.

Parker pointed, she ran.

She threw up violently, she didn't ever remember feeling this sick in her life. After, she stared at herself in the mirror. This was stupid, she'd done it, it was over, why should she still feel sick? How she'd done it she really didn't know, if she could ever do it again, she didn't know, please God she would never need to!

There was a tap on the door. "Tabby?" It was Hardison. "You Ok?"

"Yes." She replied shakily.

"Come out and we'll have some coffee, or maybe something stronger if you need it."

Tabby emerged back into the office. Eliot was now seated on the sofa, fully dressed and looking slightly less pale.

"Are you Ok?" Tabby questioned rather shakily.

He reached out and caught her hand, pulling her to sit beside him. "Fine, It's lovely when it stops." He put his arm around her and hugged her close, planting a kiss on her temple. "Thank you." He muttered huskily.

"You're welcome." Tabby whispered softly.

Parker plonked a coffee in front of both of them and it dawned on Tabby exactly how this had all started.

"I need to get back to work." She made to get up.

"Drink that first." Hardison insisted, and vanished back into the kitchen area.

Tabby wriggled rather restlessly on the couch, much as she would like to stay here with Eliot, who was still looking pale and shaky, she really had to get back to work.

Five minutes later she stood up. "I have to go. Mikel will be wondering what I'm doing."

Hardison re-entered the lounge. "No he won't, he's given you the rest of the day off."

Tabby stared at him. "But…"

"But nothing, I went to see him and told him what you just done for Eliot. He agreed you don't need to work today."

Tabby sat back down with a bump, it was quite a relief, she did still feel a bit odd herself.

"Let's crash here for a while and watch a movie." Hardison suggested.

Eliot eyes him rather warily, it was the first time for weeks Hardison had suggested any such thing, recently he had seemed happier if Eliot made himself scarce. "Is there a game on?" He asked.

"Could be, man." He flicked onto one of the numerous sports channels. "This one?"

"You choose." Eliot suggested.

Tabby was aware of the rather odd look Hardison gave him, sort of relieved, almost grateful. He flicked through until he found a game involving a team from Texas. "That one?"

"Fine." The look that passed between them this time included understanding and not a little fondness and respect she surmised. When she had seen them together previously there had definitely been an edge of tension. She had been surprised how annoyed Eliot had seemed with the man he professed to be his friend. Now she could actually see the affection which was buried deep, neither of them was happy with the tense state of affairs. "Good choice, man." Eliot finished huskily.

He settled back into the seat next to Tabby and to her surprise put his arm around her again and pulled her closer.

"Thanks, Kitten, you've no idea how much better that feels."

A few seconds later Parker arrived on her other side armed with a huge bowl of popcorn, and Hardison reappeared with beer and orange soda. Suddenly Tabby felt like she belonged, it was a nice feeling.

She stayed for the rest of the day and Parker in particular regaled her with all sorts of horror stories about their life and their job. A great many of the stories were poking fun at Hardison about hanging upside down on zip lines, and off buildings. The vision of Eliot dressed and having to carry off the part of Santa Claus made her giggle a lot. Parker gleefully recounted that Hardison had raised more bids in the auction when the guys had been 'sold off' to rich women. Hardison crowed, Eliot grumbled, but none of it was barbed. They even got into a very heated discussion about an unresolved disappearance of a sandwich, which Tabby found very confusing and Parker found hysterically funny. By the end of the day she knew them all a lot better and finally felt that she'd been accepted as at least a friend.

As a relationship with Eliot it was not all she wanted, but it was a start


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Time we let you get on with your work." Eliot observed.

True, she'd been here for about twenty minutes, which was actually less time than she normally spent here when Eliot was alone. She knew Mikel would just accept it, she also knew some of the others were a little ….odd about things. No-one ever said anything, and she did come in early and stay late to make up for it.

They all rose from the table together, Tabby took a few steps towards the kitchen as the others headed towards the stairs. Eliot was laughing at some sally of Parker's that she hadn't heard.

Suddenly a female voice rang out. "Wes? Wes Abernathy?"

Tabby had, as usual been looking at him as he laughed, she couldn't help it, he just made her insides go all squirmy, and she could hardly miss the look of horror and consternation that flashed across his face. He stopped dead.

"What the Hell?" He glanced over at Tabby, only a few strides from him. "This could get messy, believe me…."

A tall blonde girl arrived in front of him in a flurry of movement. "Wes Abernathy! Well? What the Hell do you have to say for yourself? Of all the sneaky, low-down, lying bastards you have to be the worst!"

Parker was now standing behind the girl pulling a face and making throat-cutting motions with her hand. Hardison grabbed her and pulled her towards the stairs, detouring to grab Tabby with the other hand. "I think he might need some space to sort this out."

The girl rounded on Tabby, who had been the one most obviously with Eliot. Tabby was just staring in disbelief. Wes? And who was this beautiful girl? His ex?

"If I were you." She addressed Tabby, "I would stay well away from him! He can charm the paint off a door frame, but when he gets what he's after he'll be gone like a shot! Lying son-of-a-bitch!"

Hardison yanked Tabby away as Eliot seized the girl's arm and snarled. "Outside. Now!"

The man she was with stepped forward to remonstrate with Eliot, but after just one look he stepped back again. The fury etched on Eliot's features would be enough to frighten most people! He pushed the girl towards the door and they exited with her still calling him every rude name she could lay her tongue to, silence fell as the door swung shut behind them.

"Err, who was that?" Parker enquired diffidently.

"As I remember that was Louella, Ashley Seaton's girlfriend." Hardison observed. "Come on, Tabby, you've got a few more minutes for us to explain this, it's not quite what it seems. This is part of what we do, and it's not always pretty." He gave her an apologetic look and steered Tabby to the stairs. She was so stunned she just went where she was pushed.

"How the Hell did she _find_ him?" Parker questioned.

"Bad luck!" Hardison surmised. "There is no way he would ever have let on where he hangs out!"

So far Tabby had just stumbled up the stairs and had no uttered a word. "Wes?" She now questioned in a rather strangled voice.

"One of his alias names. Wes Abernathy is a surgeon with a background even the FBI couldn't crack." Hardison announced rather proudly. "One of my fortes, new identities which are un-hackable."

"Why?" Tabby asked rather quietly. Un-hackable alias? It was dawning on her more and more that she only saw the surface of their activities, she should have realised how deep this all went when she'd stitched Eliot's wound. It all seemed like….a bit of a wild fantasy, a game, which had gone wrong when Eliot had been hurt, she'd never really thought of them _being_ someone else, of how complete any such a disguise must become. She'd not thought about them having to avoid the FBI or Homeland Security _themselves_. How naïve was she being here?

"Eliot had to get some information from Louella about her erst-while boyfriend Ashley. It would appear that he was pretty convincing." He shot Tabby a rather apologetic look. "Since we lost our grifter we all have to play multiple parts at times, it was a job that Nate would most likely have done had he still been with us. Mind you, Eliot can do a damned good job of charming the ladies. Poor girl obviously thought he was serious."

None of which made Tabby feel any happier, about the jobs they did or about Eliot! She wasn't even an ex who Eliot _might_ have cared about; she was a girl he had conned into believing that he cared! He was good at it! Did that mean anything she believed about him was true? Exactly how much was an act and how good an actor was he?

Eliot stormed into the room. "How the Hell did that come back to bite me?" He questioned with an angry growl.

"Bad luck." Hardison observed. "You shouldn't be so convincing."

"The whole point of grifting is to be convincing, otherwise you discover nothing!" He snapped.

"Did you get rid of her?" Parker enquired. "Or have you got to take her on a date tonight?"

"No I do not! Of course I got rid of her!" Eliot snarled.

Tabby was aware that his eyes flicked to her as he said this, but that he was actually avoiding her gaze. She tried her best to look totally un-fazed by any of this, it was a job, that was all. But she couldn't help the way her heart had plummeted.

This was all her own fault, she'd been trying to make something of nothing, starting to believe there was more to this than there really was. Eliot had never made any more of this than a few conversations in the restaurant. She had to accept that and keep a tighter rein on her feelings. She was out of her depth with these people.

She excused herself and swiftly returned to the kitchen, all her earlier happy vibes had vanished.

Eliot came in the next morning, but she was really pushed for time since they had two off sick, when she'd told him this he'd merely shrugged and vanished without any attempt to talk. After that she didn't see any of the crew for the three days, and then, even though she knew Eliot was in the building, he didn't come in for coffee alone. They came as a group twice in the following week. Tabby served them and chatted for a few minutes before leaving. No-one tried to detain her at all. She felt bereft, but it was for the best. Eliot had obviously realised that she was getting…..clingy? Was that the right word? Whatever, he was impressing upon her that there was no relationship here.

She knew he liked her, he had his own name for her, she was his Kitten. But he just wasn't prepared to let this go any further and he was making sure she knew it.

Eliot was in a quandary here. Louella's appearance had really thrown a spanner in his friendship with Tabby. She had scuttled away without allowing him to explain, Hardison said that he had told her the score, but Tabby didn't seem at all impressed by the situation. He'd come in the day after intending to explain, but she'd been 'busy', she'd avoided meeting his eyes and she'd been in a hurry to get away.

She obviously took a dim view of what he'd done to the poor girl. What he had done, in truth, was no more than wine and dine her. She had been so disillusioned with her ex that she had been only too happy to dish the dirt on him with very little encouragement. He hadn't honestly promised her much at all, despite what she had accused him of in the restaurant.

Tabby, however, had absorbed the accusations and had instantly put up the barriers. Now, every time he looked at her she had those shutters down behind her eyes again. He hated it, but he had no idea how to get round this icy rejection. It wasn't something he was used to; if a girl didn't like him he generally accepted it and walked away, but he didn't want to walk away from Tabby


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The crew sat in front of the screen after Hardison had laid out the problem.

"This is a missing persons job, this is so not our game!" Eliot observed.

"Well it had better be!" Parker returned belligerently. "It's Peggy's friend's niece who's missing, I told Peggy we'd help."

"And I told you that was a mistake!" Eliot growled. "You shouldn't have….."

"Well, she did!" Hardison cut in. "Now either we go back and tell the family we can't look for their daughter or we give it a try. Be honest Eliot, if girls are disappearing, being hurt, don't you want to help?"

Put like that, of course he felt they should, but he was doubtful about how. "We don't find people."

"We found the missing sweetheart." Parker retaliated.

That too was true. "All right, but I still think it's out of our league."

For a few moments no-one spoke. Finally Hardison said what they were all thinking but didn't want to say.

"If we do this, we need another player."

"Maybe not. You can go in as a sleazy promoter looking for girls to dance." Eliot began. He didn't like outsiders in the fold. As Hardison had once said, 'you don't bring Vicki Vale into the Bat cave!'

"No Eliot, we need a girl to go in, so she can chat to the others; she'll need to dance…." Hardison hesitated.

"And strip." Parker interjected in her usual forthright manner.

"Yea, Right! That's exactly why… we can't expect….it's just not…." Eliot snarled, he just couldn't put it strongly enough!

"Tara?" Hardison suggested tentatively.

"What about Tara?" Eliot retorted; the very idea of asking any girl to do such a thing appalled him.

"Well, she takes her clothes off." Parker observed. "She did in the hotel that day."

"We can't expect…"

"Eliot, Tara does what is necessary to get the job done." Parker observed. She leapt to her feet before they argued any further. "I'll call her. She can make her own decision." She grabbed her phone and moved over to the window. She felt she had to do something. Eliot thought this job was too big. She had accepted it because she didn't like what was happening. She felt a sort of obligation to help because the girl who had vanished was Peggy's friend's niece, and Peggy, her friend from Boston, was the one who had sent the family here for help.

"Would she?" Hardison questioned doubtfully.

Eliot shrugged rather despairingly. "Maybe, you know Tara. She does have a fairly … open view of things! We need someone inside, to be approached, to probably be in harm's way. But it's a bit much to ask of anyone, even for a great deal of money." He paused. "That was why…."

"I know." Hardison cut him off, knowing he was going to pursue the fact that he'd said the job was too big. "But be honest, you don't want to leave this any more than we do!"

Eliot couldn't actually argue that point, the very idea that girls were vanishing without a trace, or at least one girl for certain, made his blood run cold. Were they dead? Were they prisoners? Were they even being coerced into crime or some illegal sex trade? Without getting inside how would they ever find out?

Parker returned from the window. "No can do, not because she wouldn't do it, she said she would, but she can't. She is tied up in Budapest for the next month."

"Back to the drawing board." Eliot sighed. "Put the plans of the club up on the screen again, Hardison."

Hardison obliged, and then slipped out of the door with a perfunctory. "Back in a minute."

The last thing Tabby was expecting was a morning visit, in the kitchen, from Hardison.

"Err, Mikel, I would like a word with Tabby please."

Mikel raised his eyebrows and let her go, hopefully whatever Hardison had to say to her might cheer her up a bit, she'd been pretty down these last couple of weeks. Mikel would have needed to be blind not to realise her mood was caused by the absence of Eliot.

Hardison led her into Mikel's office. He was very hesitant. "Umm, Tabby, I've been checking up on your career."

Tabby went cold all over. Was this the big push? He'd discovered her pole dancing past and didn't like it, or maybe didn't like that she'd hidden it? Toni had promised he wouldn't tell, but someone like Hardison would find her history in a heartbeat.

"Yes?" She returned tentatively. "I know my past is a bit…unpleasant, but it doesn't affect me now. It's not something I would ever do now. It doesn't affect my work." She couldn't keep the desperation out of her voice.

Hardison regarded her in surprise. "Oh, no. Hey, girl, we all got a past. Yours is no worse, in fact it's a damned sight better than most of ours! It was at least, legal. You're doing fine, girl. No need to worry, especially after what you did for Eliot. But…well…we sort of need to ask you another favour….maybe." He hesitated for a moment. "We have a job and I thought you might be able to help. It wouldn't be exactly….illegal either. It would pay real well if you want to try. No pressure." He finished rather lamely, and Tabby was certain he was embarrassed by his request.

"What is the job?"

"Well, it's a club, shifty owner, girls disappearing." He hesitated. "Normally Parker would go in, or Tara, but….."

"It's a strip club!" Tabby finished his sentence with certainty.

"Well….yeah." Hardison mumbled.

"And Parker is not up for taking her clothes off!" Tabby continued sharply. "And you think I would be!"

"I…um…Oh dammit, girl, that sounds so dreadful!" He paused for another second. "Hell, Oh Hell no! I can't believe I even thought to come down here and ask you. Forget it, girl. Hell, no!"

Tabby couldn't help but be amused by his discomfiture, despite being rather appalled by his request. But realistically, he knew what she'd been, what she'd done, so why shouldn't he ask? She wasn't going to dismiss this instantly without knowing more of the circumstances. If girls were really being hurt, then she should help.

"What is the job?" She asked softly.

"No, no, you won't be doing it!"

"I want to know, Hardison." Tabby stated flatly.

Hardison stared in disbelief, he was astounded at her steely determination to get an answer from him, and he couldn't believe she hadn't just bawled him out. "Like I said, it's a shifty club, the easiest way would be to send a girl in, but we can't expect anyone to do that."

"Simples! Find an ex-stripper. I could do it, Hardison. Stripping is just…..well, you just do it because you have to. If you need the money that's the way it is. It's a meat market, that's all. Are girls being hurt?"

"One has disappeared for certain."

"Then I'll do it." Tabby stated firmly. "Do I need to come and talk to the others or will you just tell me what you want me to do?"

"I…. um…we need to plan, carefully."

"So you want me to come now?"

"Umm, yeah." Hardison was completely non-plussed, his vague idea had turned into a nightmare. He knew one person in particular who was going to go ballistic about this!

Eliot might think no-one had noticed, but he had spent more time with Tabby than he had with any other girl since Hardison had known him. True, it was far short of a romance, and the Louella incident had rather damaged things, but Eliot really liked her, that much was obvious.

Tabby followed him up the stairs, he walked a head of her studying the ceiling, muttering under his breath. "He's gonna kill me. I just know he's gonna kill me!"

They entered the office to find the others still perusing the strip club plans.

"Hi Tabby." Parker reacted first. "What are you doing here?"

Hardison shot Eliot a nervous look as Tabby replied. "I've come to see if I can help." She was now feeling pretty sick about this, she had to reveal her sleazy past to both Parker and….Eliot!

"Help?" Parker questioned with a disbelieving laugh.

Eliot was frowning already.

"Umm, Tabby used to be a dancer." Hardison gulped. "A pole dancer."

"_What?"_ Eliot snapped in disbelief.

"Yeah." Hardison continued. "Ask her."

Three sets of eyes were now riveted on Tabby. She took a deep breath. "Hardison tells me girls have been disappearing. I think I can help."

Eliot almost levitated out of his seat. "**NO!"**

"No I wasn't a pole dancer and stripper for five years, or No I can't help?" Tabby retaliated. She was pretty sure that some of the indignation was caused by him _not_ having known her dirty little secret.

"You can't….do this!" He spluttered.

"Why not? I did it for years, it's not that bad."

He stared at her for a second. "This is different." He growled. "It involves snooping and getting in to trouble."

"And you think I'm incapable of doing that?" Tabby retorted hotly, attack seemed the best form of defence here.

"No, that wasn't what I meant!" Eliot grabbed her arm, very conscious of the other pair's attention on this argument. "Can I speak to you in private?" He hissed. He bundled her over to the window out of the earshot of the others, who tried to pretend they weren't even noticing. "You're not doing this."

"No? And why should I have to do as you say? Is it only your decision? What if Hardison and Parker want me to do it? You need the job done and I want to help."

"You can't, it's not safe." He snarled.

"Oh really. And how much do you know about the life of a stripper? How safe is that? I've been pulled off the stage, I've been grabbed, I've been jumped on, I've even been grabbed in the car park outside. You think I can't look after myself? I've been doing it since I was fifteen, I'm tougher than you think!"

By this time Eliot was staring at her, totally appalled at what she'd just said. "The security at the clubs is supposed to _stop_ things like that!"

"They don't always manage it!" She flashed back at him.

"Anyhow, this is different." His anger level had descended slightly from explosive to simmer, he thought he was getting the upper hand here Tabby surmised. "These guys are hurting people, they may even have killed, girls have vanished."

"Then we need to stop them, I won't be alone, you will be there to look out for me."

"You are not doing it, that's final!" Eliot snapped.

Tabby's temper exploded. "Fine! Go to Hell!" She yanked her arm from his grip and in three strides she was out of the room and on her way down the stairs. So she wasn't going to win this argument, she wasn't going to help out, but she was damned if she would just tamely submit to his domination and just go back to the restaurant. As she descended the stairs she realised it was actually the first time she'd stood up to him, previously she'd done as he'd asked, though there had been little of that either. He was her boss and she'd been aware of his volatile temper, she'd taken great pains not to provoke him.

No more!

So she thought she loved him, she would have done a great deal for him had he asked, but she would not take being treated like an incapable idiot. Did he honestly think she didn't realise it was dangerous?

Silence had descended in the room above.

Hardison cleared his throat. "Umm, I don't think that went too well, Eliot."

Eliot merely scowled at him.

"You'd better go after her." Parker suggested. "She won't just come back."

"Meaning?" Eliot barked.

"Meaning, if you want her in the restaurant you'd better go after her, even if you don't want her to do this. She's out the door!"

Eliot glared at them both for several seconds as he stood, searching for an appropriate remark, he just couldn't come up with anything. "_Dammit!"_ He wheeled round and charged down the stairs.

Tabby meanwhile had gone straight to the kitchen and into the cloakroom. She grabbed her coat, and with a swift, 'I'm leaving' to Mikel, she was out of the door into the rain. She would come back later today and apologise to him, but she wasn't getting into any explanations, either now or later, she didn't want to cry! She pulled up her collar and set off determinedly. Damn Eliot Spencer to Hell! She wished she'd never met the guy. Maybe it was her own fault for letting her emotions and her imagination run away with her, but he didn't have to be so….what?

He was a misogynistic idiot.

She reflected that was patently untrue because he accepted Parker doing her job, which was clearly difficult and dangerous, so why should she be any different?

Eliot reached the restaurant, unsure if Parker was right about Tabby being out the door, maybe she was in the kitchen? However, Mikel was standing by the entrance hall, he didn't say a word, merely pointed out into the street. His disapproving frown said it all. Eliot sped in the direction he'd pointed, out into the rain without a coat.

Tabby was suddenly aware of footsteps behind her, getting closer. She half spun in fear, ready to defend herself, she was feeling particularly on edge at the moment.

True to form, it was Eliot! She fleetingly wondered had he jumped or had he been pushed?

She really had enough of this, maybe she should just keep on walking. "Let me go, you don't need me, Eliot." She turned and kept going.

"No! You can't just leave like that." Eliot was sounding far less than pleased, the snarl was very evident, it was the first time he'd really used that tone with her, or at her!

It crossed Tabby's mind that she'd seen two months of his charm, now she was seeing the whole package, and probably not before time either! "Watch me!" She kept going.

"Tabby, you love your job."

That was a low blow, she spun round to face him, she very nearly let him have the truth, which was 'I love you', but what good would that have done here?

"I did. But not now. I don't appreciate being considered a useless wimp."

"Nobody said you were."

"I want to help, I could help, and you think I can't do it! Hardison came and _asked_ me. I wouldn't have intruded on your life if he hadn't come and _asked_ me. You treated me like I was stupid, like I was pushing in on something I didn't understand. Hardison came to _me!"_

"He should never have done that!"

"He asked me because he knew I have experience, that I could do it."

Eliot pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, how could he get this through to her? "I don't want….."

"You don't want me invading you territory!" Tabby flared back at him.

"No!" He snapped. "I don't want you getting hurt."

"You told me you were the one who takes the punishment. So I won't get hurt. But maybe you just don't want to get hurt defending me!" She swung round to stamp off again.

No comment could have incensed him more than that! He grabbed her arm none too gently and pulled her back round to face him. Damn it all, she made it sound as if she thought he thought her not worth fighting for, when the exact opposite was the truth! He wanted to shake her till her teeth rattled!

"That's not true and you know it!" He snarled.

"I don't know anything much." Tabby retaliated, close to tears now, not that tears mattered, the rain was already wiping out any makeup she'd applied this morning. "I just know that you refuse to let me prove myself in any way."

"Why should you need to prove yourself?" Eliot returned in despair.

Why indeed? Maybe she just wanted to prove she was worth him bothering with? She could hardly tell him that. "I want to help." She retorted. "To help those girls. I can do something, so I should."

He stared at her for a moment, aware that he was losing this fight, if he refused to let her help, she would walk, and he didn't want that. The fury drained away a little, to be replaced by disbelief.

"You are _a stripper_?"

"You're a con-man." Tabby returned, raising her chin defiantly.

He watched the rain running down her cheeks, it looked like tears. Hell, maybe it was tears. He wanted to hold her, to kiss her, to tell her exactly why he hated this, why it scared the Hell out of him, but he couldn't. She had backed away from him after the Louella incident, she didn't trust him. She had seen first-hand what part of his job entailed, and she hadn't liked it, he realised it had made her doubt everything he'd ever said. If she now did this job she would see even more, and probably like him even less. But she would have to know the truth sometime.

"Let's go back to the restaurant and have a coffee, and talk about this properly."

Tabby glared mutinously at him. "Only if you will give me a fair chance at this, I've not even said I will do it yet. When I hear everything, I might say no."

"Please, Kitten." He cajoled her softly. He saw the flare of distress in her eyes and realised she honestly thought he was conning her with kind words. "I want you to tell me what it is I don't know, which Hardison obviously does!" Dammit, he'd not realised quite how stubborn and determined she was, she was not the only one who had been labouring under a misapprehension. "Let's get out of this rain, I'm cold, I guess you must be too."

Tabby relented and allowed herself to be steered the quarter mile back to the restaurant, they entered, both dripping from the relentless rain. Eliot shook it off like a dog, Tabby just felt ….wet. Barely had they come through the door than Mikel arrived at her side, took her coat and handed her a towel.

They took up residence opposite each other in the requisite booth six and Mikel was back almost instantly with coffee, he uttered not one word, but the look he gave Eliot was grim.

Tabby knew they were probably now being watched from the office by one of the many cameras Hardison had positioned around the room. She would have been quite surprised at the reactions.

"They're back." Parker crowed. "He's got her back, good!"

"Good for the con or good for the restaurant?" Hardison questioned.

"Both, but that's not what I meant. Good for Eliot, she's adorable, he likes her, he's lonely, he needs someone like her."

Hardison shot her a thoughtful look. There were times when he really wondered about them as a couple. Why had she chosen him over Eliot? He knew she liked Eliot, relied upon him, saw his point of view, backed him up….truthfully Eliot had more in common than he did with the beautiful, crazy thief. But that didn't stop him from loving her, understanding her wasn't always easy, but he loved her. On bad days he could see Parker leaving him for Eliot, but then she would make a comment like that and he would realise that she wasn't one bit jealous at the thought of Eliot with another girl.

"Eliot has lots of girls." He remarked.

"No, he doesn't." Parker glanced at him "Oh don't be silly. He dates them, he sleeps with them, but they are not…..his! It has nothing to do with…." She laid her hand on her heart. "You know what I mean…pretzels, even"

"And you think she'd different?"

"Trust me. He talks to her. I mean really talks to her. I doubt he's told her much, but I'll bet she knows far more about him than he realises because she listens."

Hardison gazed at her fondly, for a girl who professed not to have feelings and not to understand people, she could be super-perceptive about some things!

"Ok, so we need to get a plan started, she'll need an identity and all the works, a good cover story. I think that will be Plan A, Eliot will want to be there as security, so I'll get him a job." Hardison set to work on the computer, Parker sat at his elbow and made suggestions, some of which he used, many of which were so way out he had to dismiss them!

"Maybe I will make her a thief pack." Parker jumped to her feet.

"I doubt she will be picking any locks." Hardison observed in amusement.

"Better safe than sorry." Parker disappeared into the cupboard. She reappeared a second later. "Do we actually know she can dance?"

Hardison cleared his throat rather embarrassed. "I didn't think it was appropriate to show this while she was here." He flicked a video on to the screen. "Do you really need to see?"

"Yes!" Parker watched for a moment as a younger Tabby gyrated on the screen. "Oh, now I see. Do you think you'd better not show that to Eliot?"

Hardison nodded and flicked the video off again, she'd already lost her top, he didn't think they needed to see any more. Once again he recognised how far Parker had progressed in her understanding of people's feelings, there was a time when she'd have dismissed the idea that anything would bother Eliot! But then again, there was a time when he was pretty certain that she would have been right! It took a while but…..things changed. "The less said about it the better."

"But that_ is_ what she does!" Parker observed.

"Not any more, it's what she tried to leave behind! She is doing it to help, now we need to make it as painless as possible for her."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Tabby and Eliot regarded each other warily across the table

"Why didn't you tell me about your life?" Eliot growled softly.

"Did you tell me about yours?" Tabby shot back. She wasn't just going to cave in. Ok so it was a bit like poking a rattlesnake with a stick, but what the Hell, he'd got to learn that just because he was intimidating when he was angry didn't mean he could always get his way.

"That is not the same!" He retorted huffily.

"Really?"

"Tabby, you are neither a criminal nor a…..a….an undesirable person."

Tabby buried her nose in her coffee cup, she had no come back for that, she hardly needed to inflate his ego by telling him he was actually a very desirable person!

"So tell me about it. Tell me what I don't know, but Hardison does."

"Hardison only knows because he researched on line, I never told him anything at all. I did tell Toni. But Toni never told me anything about you." Tabby returned quietly.

So many secrets, no wonder trust was an issue here!

"Tell me. Please." Eliot implored softly, only after he said it did he realise he was doing it again, the caring, persuasive bit that she now suspected was…..false! But it wasn't, how the Hell could he convince her? "Tabby, please, I need to know, how can I begin to understand if I don't know?"

Tabby regarded him wearily, if she didn't tell, she couldn't help, that was the bottom line.

So she told him, the whole nine yards; her father's death, her mother's return to stripping, her step-father and his harassment of her.

"What could I do? I left home, I was fifteen, I lied and got jobs. In the end I did what my mother did and took my clothes off. I did what I had to do to survive." She finished sadly. "I didn't enjoy it, but it's not what you think. Those men, they don't see _you_, they see a naked body. They would all pass me in the street and not know who I was with my clothes on." She gave him a small smile. "That eternal joke is so true."

He stared at her for a moment, she was quite serious about that, she truly believed that men only saw her as a piece of meat. Could she honestly not see that she was so lovely that no man could ever ignore her face? He'd never seen her naked, the very idea of that luscious little body unclothed made his head spin, but it wouldn't mean he didn't look at the whole package!

"Well, I'm damned sure I would know." Eliot returned quietly.

"Yes, but you've only ever seen me with my clothes on, so that doesn't count. Anyhow, what would I need to do?"

Eliot eyed her worriedly, just because she'd done it before didn't mean he felt she should do it now. "Get accepted for a job, which won't be hard looking the way you do. Then get in with the girls, ask questions and keep your eyes open. As far as we know three girls have not been accounted for. Only one of them is definitely 'missing', that is the girl whose family have come to us. The other two have no-one actively looking for them, but Hal Cousins has been to the club himself and a couple of the other girls told him of those two. The girl we are looking for is Alicia Cousins. She's eighteen and she ran away four months ago, her father has been on her trail and got this far, only to find her gone!"

Tabby nodded unhappily, she understood so much better than he realised, she'd lived it, there were any number of girls out there in the same position, so easily exploited, and so little missed.

"That could have been me." She pointed out sadly. "If I went missing no-one would even notice."

"Not true." Eliot denied. "You have friends at work."

"Who would speculate for a few days, and then forget I even existed."

_I wouldn't!_ The thought echoed in his head, exactly what that meant he didn't want to analyse at the moment, but it was a strange feeling for him. So he now helped people, he now found he did care particularly if people were exploited and physically hurt, but when he left a job he left it. He carried enough baggage from his past not to take any more on board, jobs were now done and dismissed. But this girl was already haunting him and they'd done little more than talk across a table, there was no way in the world he could dismiss her existence.

"Tabby, you have to realise this might be dangerous."

"But you will be there to help me, won't you?"

Maybe, if he was in the right place at the right time. Given the chance he wouldn't let her out of his sight, but he would probably have to work security as a cover, and that meant he had to make at least a token effort to fulfil the job so he didn't get dismissed!

"Yes!" He replied, definitely. He would _not_ fail her, he would be there for her all the time.

"Then I want to do it." Tabby confirmed. "Also…I don't want to sound mercenary about this, but I….I really could do with the money." She looked embarrassed at this admission. "Hardison said it would pay well and I really would like to be able to buy myself a little car, so I can get out of the city on my day off." She finished a little wistfully. "Maybe it would be enough to get me some sort of little car do you think?"

Enough? Did she have the slightest idea what Hardison meant by 'pay well'? He would be thinking six figures where Tabby was probably imagining three!

"Kitten, it will probably buy you a little car a hundred times over!" Tabby stared at him in disbelief. "We don't do things by halves." He finished rather sheepishly. "There are some times when we don't actually get paid, so you need to make up for that. Hardison generally manages to find something the bad guys have hidden from sight. Our first ever pay-out when we started this caper was….epic…monumental! None of us is poor." He passed on from that fact swiftly. "So you are set on doing this? You truly want to go back to being a stripper?"

Tabby scowled at him. "Don't be silly! Of course I don't want to, but I am going to do it because it is necessary!"

Eliot finally accepted defeat. "Back to the office, we need to get organised."

Five minutes later they re-entered the office, Tabby was feeling a little nervous, she wondered what her reception would be after that exhibition of temper tantrums. She needn't have worried.

"Ahh, want to see what we've done so far? I've hacked all the video and surveillance at the club. It would be useful if you can put a few more in when you get to work Eliot." He switched the screen back to the club so Tabby could see their target.

"This is the Asylum. Bar, club, dancing girls and strippers, plenty of 'girlie' entertainment. The owner is Travis Houston, this is his only place in Portland, but he owns several more bars across the state and one in Northern California. This is the only Strip club. It's pretty expensive, fairly exclusive sort of clientele. Lots of girls, lots of punters and a big turnover in staff."

"So it's not that sleazy?" Tabby questioned.

"Are all strip clubs not sleazy?" Hardison returned rather taken aback. "Is that not the nature of the beast?"

"Believe me, Hardison, some are _really_ sleazy. Some are just what they are, a meat market, but not so….. seedy and disreputable. Places in Vegas, on the Strip, are really classy, and women still take their clothes off. It's a matter of degree." Tabby had been looking at the screen, she now realised the others were all looking at her. "I'm the expert here." She finished quietly.

"Riiiight!" Hardison drawled. Strip Clubs were not somewhere he had spent a great deal of time. He glanced at Eliot, who definitely knew about strip clubs, but he was deliberately schooling his features to blank, mild interest. "So, lots of staff changes, hence no-one knows each other very well, therefore people can just…..go missing. We know of three, it might be more. That will be one thing you need to try to find out, Tabby. Alicia Cousins is the girl we are looking for." Hardison put her picture on the screen. "Just eighteen and left home after a row. Dad had been looking for her ever since. They asked the police but got nowhere. No evidence of crime so she's just another runaway, and at eighteen they look less than they do at fifteen."

Tabby studied the picture, reasonably pretty girl, blondish, nice figure, probably dressed up in a dancing outfit with lots of make-up she would look a fair bit older, and very different from this high school snap. "Is this the only picture? She won't look like that now."

"What do you mean?" Hardison was puzzled.

"Oh, come on. When did you see a girl in club looking like that? Even if she's wearing a naughty school girl outfit she will be made up."

"Can you do that facial changing thing?" Eliot suggested. "You know, the one that ages and such like."

"Well, yeah."

"Show Tabby how to use it and let her have a go with Alicia's picture."

Hardison grumbled slightly but did as Eliot suggested. Fifteen minutes later they were looking at a very different picture. It was still indisputably Alicia Cousins, but it was that young lady, and then some!

"Wow." Parker exclaimed. "I see what you mean, I would have walked past her if I'd only seen the other picture."

"But I'm still only guessing." Tabby pointed out. "I just wanted you to see the possibilities. She might have dyed her hair black for all we know."

Eliot gave a small chuckle. "A bit like what they did to Parker at that Fashion Week thing we crashed with the triad woman."

"Really?" Tabby was fascinated.

"Yea, man. She looked really hot, and then she fell off the catwalk…." Hardison enthused.

"I fell on purpose." Parker interjected indignantly, "So Eliot could sneak out after the computer stick thingy. And Eliot was wearing guy-liner and mascara and he was called Julian"

"What? _Guy liner_?" Tabby couldn't contain her amusement.

"Can we get back to the job in hand?" Eliot growled in irritation. "Have you got an identity for Tabby yet? Can you get her a job or does she need to turn up on the doorstep and wiggle her assets?"

Parker chortled, Tabby snapped her eyes round to look at Eliot. He raised his eyebrows at her and she caught the spark of amusement across his face. Obviously, if she could laugh at him in eyeliner he could make fun of her wiggling her assets. She felt a flash of relief as she realised he'd finally accepted she was going to do this, and he was going to support her rather than put obstacles in her way.

"Sorry Tabby, but you are going to have to go and shake your booty at Travis Houston." Hardison informed her. "I've done you an ID. You are Kirsten Cooper, pole dancer and stripper from Little Rock, you've worked in Las Vegas and Atlantic City."

"So why am I in Portland?"

"You came here with a man. He left you."

"Thanks." Tabby retorted sarkily

"Well, I'm sorry, girl, but we gotta have a reason, and that is one that nobody can follow up! He was a good-looking, sleazy, dishonest, creep, he lied to you and he left you, and he took all your money too. So you need a job."

"Ok." Tabby concurred. In her mind, if anyone should ask, the man had taken shape in the form of her mother's new husband, the man who had stalked her and driven her away. It sounded just right for the sort of man he had been.

"So when you get in you need to ask questions, but very carefully. It's one thing a father or a relation arriving and asking about a girl. If we turn up and start openly asking the same thing someone will notice." Hardison observed dryly.

"So 'softee softee catchee monkee'?" Tabby concurred.

"Absolutely!"

The plan evolved, Eliot was already lined up to join the security team, Hardison had issued one of the employees with a surprise, prize trip to Florida! Hardison would be manning the coms and the computer, but he would also pay a couple of visits to the club as a customer. Parker would be entrusted with the computer while he was otherwise occupied. It was a role she didn't often take, but she'd had a lot of practice when she'd thwarted a kidnap attempt all on her own while she'd had her leg in plaster. The computer was quite fun on an occasional basis. Parker was also breaking and entering at Travis Houston's smart house on the outskirts of Portland. That would be achieved tonight, with Eliot and Hardison as back up.

This evening Tabby would be working in the restaurant, she'd already missed a great deal of today. She was tempted to go along and see the team at work, but she felt she couldn't just desert Mikel without some warning. As from tomorrow she would not be there for an indeterminate period of time, Eliot had promised to go and explain things to him shortly.

Eliot was not looking forward to the interview with Mikel. At the end of the day he and Hardison could do as they pleased about their employees, but he hated upsetting Mikel. The man was a rock, he took everything thrown at him, he never objected to Eliot's constant forays into the kitchen. But Eliot was fairly sure he wouldn't be too pleased about losing Tabby. He knew the man had taken a great liking to her, and he would feel Eliot was not only taking advantage of her, but was possibly endangering her! He certainly wasn't going to tell Mikel what Tabby would be doing!

He wasn't wrong, Mikel was far from impressed. But he was slightly mollified when Eliot pointed out that Tabby's exit earlier in the day had been caused because he had said she _couldn't_ help, and she had decided she wanted to. Eliot told Mikel that Tabby would be helping out in a club, he didn't specify what sort of club. Eliot left with Mikel's threat ringing in his ears. "You get that young lady hurt, and so help me God, you will regret it, I don't care how tough you are!"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Tabby was just amazed at the different roles they all played, they certainly didn't seem like criminals, but presumably she would soon see them all in action properly.

Eliot was due to go to work this afternoon, Tabby was going to drop in to the club to beg a job a short while later. Parker was to be her taxi driver. They didn't leave anything to chance.

Tabby had spent a long while selecting what she would wear, and she had taken it all up to the office so she could get ready after they had eaten lunch. She didn't want to miss any last minute instructions, and she wanted to be sure they thought her outfit suitable.

Tabby retreated to the bathroom to get changed and apply her make-up. She'd got to make her assets obvious, not full blown performance standard, but enough to make Travis Houston look. She put on a close fitting fuchsia pink cross-over top which plunged low and hugged her breasts in a more than obvious fashion. Her skirt was black patent and covered all that was necessary. Then she added her four inch stiletto heels and pinned her hair up so it fell in curls around her face.

She surveyed the result. Frankly she looked like a hooker! Maybe the hair was a little too much. She let down the curls and pinned just a couple of strands back, that looked a little less…blatant.

Then she walked back into the office.

Hardison stared. "Whoowee, if he doesn't want to employ you he must be blind."

"Gee Tabby, you do look different." Parker squealed. "I love the colour."

Eliot….Tabby ventured a glance in his direction. Eliot looked…gobsmacked, worried, slightly angry, most definitely not happy.

He dragged his eyes away from her. Dammit all, she looked so hot it was unbelievable! It made him instantly angry. Generally if he saw a girl dressed that way he might think 'good time girl' or possibly 'sexy little package', and it never bothered him at all. But Tabby dressed that way made him feel defensive, he didn't like the idea of men looking at her, trying to paw her, and dressed that way she was plainly encouraging such thoughts.

To add to that she was causing _him_ a problem! He had instantly pictured those shapely legs wrapped around his waist and her stilettos digging into his butt. Jeez! He liked girls, but this one affected him far worse than most!

"Let's go!" He snarled, grabbing his coat and heading down the stairs.

Tabby was slightly taken aback, she'd expected at least some proper evaluation of her outfit, but obviously it was …..appropriate.

She followed the others downstairs to find Eliot had already left, but he was supposed to be there before her anyhow. She got into her 'taxi' with Parker and they headed for the club. It was on the far side of the city and the drive took the best part of an hour.

Parker dropped her at the entrance to the club. She put in her ear piece, the first time she'd actually tried it properly, she'd put it in to get the feel of it, but it hadn't been turned on, now it was. It was so small, she couldn't really imagine it worked over any great distance, but the team seemed to rely heavily on this communication method.

"Hardison?" She murmured, just to make sure.

"I'm here girl. You be careful."

The club was larger than it had seemed on the video, and it was smart, expensive looking. In truth it was just the sort of place she had preferred to work in, back in the day! She could do this, it was all so familiar. Tabby took a deep breath and slid from the car.

"Good luck!" Parker murmured.

Tabby adjusted her skirt, stuck out her chin and sashayed up the steps, aware of Parker's amused gaze. The girl had a very strange sense of humour, Tabby reflected that Eliot's refrain of 'there's something wrong with you' had some justification!

As made her way to the office Eliot's voice was suddenly in her ear.

"If you want me, just say, I'm here. Just one word and I'll be there. You won't need to shout, just one word."

"I'll be fine, Eliot." She murmured softly. "I'm only going after a job." She couldn't help but be elated at the concern in his voice.

"Yeah, but these are not nice people. Be careful."

"I'm fine." She re-iterated. Nice! When had they ever been? They exploited girls, each and every one of them. So everyone had a choice, but when the choice was this or starvation, which way would any girl go?

It was late afternoon on a Friday, the bar was already doing a fairly brisk trade. There were several girls around, serving customers and chatting, but no dancing was happening yet. She swayed her way to the bar on her four inched heels, they just gave her that extra height which made her feel more confident. Confidence, that was the key, she'd become very adept at portraying confidence in her past life, even when she was quaking in her shoes, that would stand her in good stead now.

She asked to see the manager, she didn't ask for the owner by name, it would be suspicious if she actually knew such a fact. The manager arrived and she asked for a job, she suffered the expected perusal of her figure.

"Hmm. Can you dance? Can you strip?" There was no delicacy about the questions.

"I can, I have worked in Las Vegas, just off The Strip, and I've worked in Atlanta, and a few smaller towns too."

"Not on The Strip?"

"No, but I would have, soon." She shrugged. "I left Vegas with my boyfriend so I never quite got there."

"So what are you doing here?"

She spun him the sob story of the boyfriend leaving and taking her money. She knew it would all be taken with a pinch of salt, she drew the story large, and they would assume she was exaggerating, but that it was in essence, true. This manager was just the sort of man she had expected, to him the girls were all cannon fodder and not bright, let him think that, she wasn't wanting him to look at her in any other light.

She fluttered her lashes, tried to look cute and ditzy and wriggled her body hopefully. The manager reckoned he'd seen it all before. But he could very much see the possibilities here.

"Ok, you can have ten minutes to prove yourself this evening. Go on just after seven, I'll be watching, if I like what I see, you're hired. Got your own gear?"

"Oh, yes!" Tabby agreed breathlessly, she was well aware of what she would need.

"So what do we call you, on stage I mean?"

"Anastasia." It wasn't a name she had used before, so no-one could check on her at all.

"I'm Kyle Absalom. The owner will be here later this evening, if you do all right first time you can dance later for him."

Now she was in with a chance. She was shown to the rear dressing room where the girls hung out. Here she could paint her face and get herself ready. It would be another three hours before she was expected on stage. She wondered if she could make any friends among the girls before that.

"This is Cindy." Kyle introduced her. "Cindy this is Kirsten, show her around, will you." With that he left Tabby to chat.

* * *

Eliot had listened to every word of the interview. He'd been a bit worried that she'd oversold the story, but it had turned out fine, Tabby had read the man well and realised what it needed. She seemed already to have an instinct for grifting…. for lying? That wasn't a nice thought.

He'd wanted to talk to her, to reassure her, but he'd held back, having a com in your ear, and someone talking in your head, could be very distracting till you got used to it. Now he took the chance to talk to her.

"Well done, sweetheart. Now see if your new friend Cindy can tell you anything."

Tabby almost started at the sound of his voice, she'd forgotten he was there, hopefully Cindy had noticed nothing, she wasn't studying Tabby with any intensity. She felt slightly irritated at Eliot, what did he think she was going to do? This was the job, she would get on with it.

"Hi there, Kirsten. Where you from? Coffee?" She waved a cup and indicated Tabby to sit next to her.

"Originally Arkansas, recently Vegas." Tabby took the cup and added milk from the carton on the table.

"You left Vegas to come to this dump?"

"It's a long story." Tabby remarked. "What about you?"

"Chicago, worked my way west, and here I am."

"Have you been here long?"

"About four months, it's not too bad. Reasonable punters, make a fair bit of cash, even more on the side if you get my drift. Not that we're supposed to, I expected he told you that." She waved after the manager.

"Well, he's not hired me officially, I've got to dance tonight and then he'll decide. What's the owner like?"

"Rich! Likes the girls to look good, classy not too trashy. Even if Kyle takes you on, Travis Houston will have the final say."

"Oh, is he hard to please?"

"Yeah, well, sometimes." Cindy looked her up and down. "I think he'll go for you, just lay it down a bit, if you've worked Vegas you'll blow their socks off. You could probably make a bomb with a bit of slap and tickle, they always fancy getting up close and personal with a new bod."

Tabby caught Eliot's poorly muffled snarl, she could almost hear him grinding his teeth. Hardison was obviously listening too. "Eliot, chill man. She's not doing anything like that! Stop grinding your teeth, it sets the coms off all weird."

"If you've finished your coffee we'll go for a look-see. I'll introduce you to those who are here. I go home at ten tonight, got a little-un to look after. More girls will be in for the night. If you need to borrow anything for this evening just let me know."

Tabby followed her out of the dressing room, as they did so Eliot came out of the rest room next door. He was dressed in a smart dark suit and tie, with his hair tied back in a ponytail. He looked….dangerous. Tabby could see how he fitted the bill as security!

Cindy fluttered her eyelashes. "Hello handsome. This is Kirsten, Kirsten this is Wes."

"Hi." Tabby had to struggle to keep a straight face. Wes! Damn him, was he trying to make this hard? Truthfully Eliot had trouble not reacting himself.

"Err Hi." He nodded and passed by heading for the rear of the building. Cindy looked after him with an appreciative smile.

"New security guy. He looks pretty tough, I like a tough guy. Real mean and moody. Yum!" Tabby could see the predatory look in her eyes. Damn it all, she'd been expecting to be the one getting hit on, it looked like Eliot might be in demand too. She had to clench her teeth against the comment that nearly came out. '_He's mine!_' Oh if only, but she couldn't let on she knew him.

After a tour of the bar, the stage area and most of the back rooms Tabby felt she'd got her bearings. She was grateful Cindy had offered her the tour, it was something the others had impressed upon her that she must do. She needed to know the layout, all the ways out and the escape routes should it be necessary to make a run for it.

It was now nearly six, only an hour before she was due on stage. She spoke to the sound man and organised her music. She had spent last evening going through her old routine, something she had never expected to do again. Hopefully it would suffice for a first time at least.

Then she got out her gear and dressed with care. Knee high stilettos and satin thongs, things she'd thought were in her past. Then she did her makeup, full strength this time, it came back to her with very little effort, the whole scenario made her feel very odd.

By seven she was ready to rock and roll.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Tabby stalked slowly onto the stage in her impossibly high heels. The room was fairly full, nothing like it would be later tonight, but plenty to impress. Really it made no difference, the performance had to be the same for five customers, or fifty.

The music started in earnest and she went into her routine, she'd not done this for almost two years, hopefully it would still go down well. She began to move and sway, there were a few cat calls and whistles at the 'new girl', but many probably didn't notice much beyond another body.

It was all going fine, she didn't miss a beat and the audience response was warming up, she'd certainly got their attention. She peeled off her clothes with well-practiced ease. She'd almost reached the conclusion of the routine when she twirled and suddenly caught sight of Eliot watching from the corner closest to the stage, about ten feet away. In an instant that changed everything. She wanted to curl up and die from embarrassment, she felt the rush of tears to her eyes. She gritted her teeth and looked away, now desperate to complete this dance and get off the stage. The final notes sounded and she spun away from the audience with a saucy flick of her heel and disappeared behind the curtain.

She was now shaking with reaction, until she'd seen Eliot she had been fine, but he had looked so….grim, appalled by what she was doing. How stupid was it? If he had asked she would have taken all her clothes off, just for him and him alone, something she had never, ever done before. But the idea of him seeing her do what she had just done was awful.

She bumped into Cindy, who was now heading for the stage.

"Pretty good girl, you can stay." She crowed and vanished through the curtain.

Tabby grabbed a wrap off the peg and yanked it over her naked form as swiftly as she could, then she bolted for the dressing room to put some clothes on, sharpish. She couldn't get that look of Eliot's out of her brain, he had looked …disgusted with her. It made her feel about two inches high. How could she ever face him again? Work with him? Work in the kitchen and not think about that look?

She fingered the ear bud, she'd had to remove it to dance, she needed to hear the music clearly. She should put it back in now in case anyone wanted to speak to her, but she didn't want to, she didn't want to hear what would be said. She'd not expect it to affect her in this way, she'd known it wouldn't be a happy pastime, but she'd not imagined she would cope so badly. She'd grown to hate the job, and there was no reason why she should be any happier about it now. She would most likely be expected to dance again later tonight and she now didn't know if she could go through with this!

Kyle Absalom, the manager, just walked in. There was no privacy here!

"Not bad, Kirsten. You're hired. Do another set at ten-thirty. Different routine if you can, you're going to need several." Tabby nodded wordlessly, she felt more like crying, but she was in, she'd succeeded and now she had to carry through. She was the one who had claimed she could do this. Absalom moved closer, Tabby instantly tensed, he was studying her body, thankfully now covered, with what could only be described as a personal interest. To her great relief he didn't pursue that. "Go and get yourself a drink and serve the customers. Wear something better than that!" He waved at her jeans.

"Ok." She whispered. "I've only got one set of stage clothes with me, I wasn't expecting to be here all evening."

"It'll do for tonight, get some more." Kyle ordered. "I need to see you cope with a full audience." He turned and left.

Tabby re-dressed in the micro skirt she had arrived in, not fancy but it would do. She needed to give her wardrobe a bit of thought , something to hide behind to do this awful job, maybe it would take her mind off way Eliot was thinking about her. Should she tell him what she'd just been thinking about Absalom? The way he'd just looked at her, she was fairly certain she would be fending him off in a day or so. But maybe that was what was needed? What if Absalom was the cause of the disappearances? She'd just have to be careful, that was all, and she'd have to wear the ear-bud even if she didn't want to talk with the others!

She left the dressing room to go to the bar and the very first person she ran into in the corridor was Eliot. Instantly she felt the prickle of tears once again.

Eliot watched her warily as she approached, she didn't look happy. He'd caught the sparkle of tears in her eyes when she caught his eye on the stage.

He _hated_ this, he _hated_ what they were expecting her to do, he wanted to smash all those men who were leering at her, lusting after her lovely little body. As she approached he saw the lift of her chin, the sparkle of more tears, and he just reacted. He swamped her in a bear hug.

"Sorry, sweetheart. I'm so sorry."

"What?" She stuttered.

"You shouldn't have to do this. We should never have let this happen. You hate this, don't you?"

"I…I wish…I don't…" Tabby couldn't get the words out. Finally she burst into tears and buried her face in his shoulder. "Please, we mustn't get caught here."

He glanced around, opened a nearby door, which proved to be an office, dragged her inside and locked it behind them. Her tears subsided after a few moments, it felt so good to be in his arms, but she was still embarrassed.

He stroked her hair gently. "We can leave right now. Come on, you can't do this."

Hardison chimed in on his ear-bud. "Your call, Eliot. If that's the way it's gotta be, do it."

"No." Tabby sniffed inelegantly. "We can't leave. Now we've started we need to go through with it. I have to dance again at ten-thirty. I'm sure the manager is a bit shifty, he's definitely not….right. And he said I need to meet Travis Houston later. If we leave we'll never get another chance. I can do this. It's just….." she hesitated.

"Just what?" He questioned softly.

"I can do this if you don't watch me." She finished in a rush.

"How so?"

"I can do this if the people watching me don't know me. They never will know me, I'm a body, not a person. But if you watch me I feel dreadful. I feel disgusting and cheap and…"

"Shh." Eliot interrupted her. "That's just rubbish. You could never be cheap. It's not your fault, any of it. When you are on stage I will watch the crowd. That's what I should be doing, making certain no-one is going to jump you." It was perfectly true and they both knew it, but he had found it hard to look away. Now he knew how she felt he would do his damnedest not to upset her any further.

"Ok." She whispered. "Now I need to go, I have to work the floor until it's time for me to go back on."

"Put your ear-bud back in. We need to keep track when you are in the crowd, I may not be able to see you."

Tabby did as he asked and they left the office and went back to the barroom, Tabby to work the floor and Eliot to patrol security.

Eliot felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, he wasn't surprised to find it was Hardison, avoiding the ear-bud.

"Hey, man. Is she Ok with this? Are _you_ Ok with this? I know Nate would say you have to push people to do things they don't want, but there are limits!"

Eliot hesitated. "Ok. Not good, but Ok, we can both do it."

* * *

The place was filling up, just before ten-thirty Tabby went back and dressed for the undressing! Then Anastasia took to the stage again. It was a Friday night and the place was heaving, the immediate response was enthusiastic. Tabby strutted her stuff using all the whiles she had learned in her five years of plying this trade on this stage.

She made certain she spun and gyrated in every direction. She made sure she didn't get too close to the edge of the stage, she'd been pulled off more than once in her career. She knew if it happened here Eliot would instantly be there for her, but she didn't need either of them getting any extra attention here!

Eliot stood with his back to the stage and watched the crowd, grim-faced. He could see her out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't look round. He was here for her protection and now he would take that very seriously.

Tabby left the stage to yells of approval, certainly the crowd were sure they want more, so her job was pretty much guaranteed at this moment. The alcohol was flowing freely and the crowd were having a good time. Tabby returned to the dressing room to change back into her skirt. As soon as she could she replaced her ear-bud and checked in with Eliot and Hardison. She'd heard not a murmur from Parker, what the girl was doing she had no idea, but she was pretty sure she would also be listening. She returned to the bar room, and this time there were a number of customers waiting to ambush her if they could.

The first person to detain her was Kyle Absalom. "Mr Houston would like to speak to you." Wordlessly Tabby accompanied him to the booth at the side of the room where she immediately recognised Travis Houston. He was accompanied by two blondes and two very mean looking men, who just had to be his bodyguards.

Tabby exchanged only a few words with Travis Houston, who confirmed she was hired. It wasn't what he said she didn't like, it was what he didn't say. She was used to being ogled, but this man looked at her like so much meat, as if he was assessing her worth in the body market. It made her skin crawl. She was very glad to be dismissed to work the floor.

Tabby circulated the room, she smiled, spoke pleasantly, took the orders, served the drinks and avoided contact as far as she possibly could. Above the long bar was a large notice proclaiming to all customers, 'DON'T TOUCH THE WOMEN', in small letters underneath some joker had added, 'But they can grab whatever they want to', most people enjoyed the joke, so it had been left. Customers knew the house rules, it was only those who'd imbibed too much alcohol who risked the attentions of the security men.

Eliot prowled the bar, chatting to the other girls and his fellow security men. He was never far from Tabby, but he was constantly on the alert for anything which might help their investigations.

Tabby went on once more just after midnight and finally was dismissed to go home around one- thirty. The club would probably still be serving drinks at four in the morning, but the management did realise the value of allowing the staff to rest.

Kyle the manger came over to her and thrust a handful of notes at her. "Good job. Come back tomorrow, seven till about two in the morning. Ok?" Tabby nodded wordlessly and made her way to the parking lot. Eliot was already there. He'd worked till one and had been lurking ever since.

She climbed gratefully into his truck, leaned back in the seat, closed her eyes and removed her ear-bud. "God, I'm tired. I'd forgotten how long the night would be. I feel like I need to sleep till mid-morning."

"Sweetheart, you can sleep for as long as you need." Eliot pulled away from the parking lot. If he didn't drive right now he would be tempted to pull her into his arms to comfort her. She sounded so…lost.

She opened her eyes to stuff the notes into her purse.

"Cash? Just like that?" Eliot questioned.

"Cash and no questions asked. I imagine there won't be anything like a contract and job security. He wants me back tomorrow."

"Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine." Tabby tried to inject a bit of enthusiasm into her voice. "I didn't learn much, I talked to some of the girls but I didn't ask about Alicia, I didn't feel I could yet."

"No worries. It will take a day or two to get accepted." Eliot glanced at her worriedly. "Can you manage a few more days?"

"Of course I can." Tabby retorted waspishly.

"No, Tabby! Only if you are happy with it." He growled.

She glanced over at him, he was giving her a way out of this if she wanted, she felt a flood of gratitude, despite the fact she knew she wouldn't take him up on the offer. "We've started this to find those girls. I can do it. We need to at least give it a reasonable try. I don't have to like the job, but I can do it. I'm sure you've had to do things you didn't want before, for the right reasons. As long as people I know….." Her voice broke slightly. "People I know don't think that is how I want to behave."

Eliot slapped his foot on the brake and pulled up with a jerk. Then he removed his ear-bud and turned to her, intensity in his gaze. "Tabby, now you are working with us the same rules apply to _you_ as to us! We are con-men, now you are too. You are being someone you are not, so anything you do is _not you_. It's all right, we understand, everything!" He reached out and cupped her cheek gently with his palm. "You were wonderful today, Kitten. You will be wonderful tomorrow. We can't do this without you."

She gave him a tremulous smile and he smiled back at her. It was, she acknowledged, far from his relaxed and happy smile that she loved. He didn't like her doing this any more than she did, but he would support her through Hell and high water. It gave her confidence.

"I can do it, and I will." She whispered. "Just be there to help if I need it." She paused for a second. "Absalom is a bit….slimy, but Travis Houston…" She gave a little shudder. "I really don't like him at all."

"No worries. I'll be there all the time. I doubt Houston will be around much." He dropped his hand and turned back to drive. "Home, you need to rest."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Home turned out not to be what Tabby had expected. She had almost dozed off when he pulled up and jumped out. She roused herself and realised this was not her apartment.

"Where are we?" She questioned in confusion.

Eliot swung open the passenger door and grabbed her hand to help her out. "My place. Come on."

"But…"

"But nothing. It's a lot nicer than your little hovel. I'm going to make you something to eat before you sleep."

"But….I've got nothing with me."

"What do you need? You've got what you are wearing, everything else I can provide. Come on, I'm going to look after you. If you are going to do this god damned awful job then you deserve some spoiling." He ushered her swiftly up the steps into his spacious apartment which had views across the river. Tabby was just too dazed to argue.

Eliot showed her to a lovely little room with its own en-suite shower-room.

"Make yourself at home, I'm going to make you some supper, nothing complicated but you need to eat before you go to sleep. Come to the kitchen when you've sorted yourself out." He smiled at her in that endearing way of his and Tabby's heart did that oh so familiar lurch.

She didn't really have much sorting out to do, so she removed her make-up, washed her face and hands and went out to the kitchen. She rather fancied a shower, but since Eliot had hi-jacked her, she had no clean clothes to change into, and she didn't have a night shirt either!

She went back into the kitchen to find Eliot had just completed a wonderful smelling omelette.

"Ah, there you are. Sit down, sweetheart. Everything all right?"

"Well….yes, but I don't have a night shirt!" She threw him a rather rueful smile. "And I can't exactly shower and put my dirty clothes back on again."

"You sit down and eat this, I'll see what I can do." Eliot placed the food in front of her. "There ya go. Enjoy it." He brushed a kiss across her temple as he pulled away, it was just the merest whisper of a touch, but Tabby felt it like an electric shock. She watched him from under her lashes as he left the room. Damn it all, she was going to regret this whole thing so badly in the end! She ate the omelette, it was delicious.

Five minutes later Eliot returned. "Ok, hardly Gucci, but will that do for a night shirt?" He hung a white Tee shirt over the back of the chair. "And you can put this on in the morning, it will make a dress for you if you put a belt round the waist." He hung one of his checked cotton shirts over the chair too. "It's one of the longer ones. Will that do?"

Tabby regarded him in surprise, did he often have to do this for women? He seemed to have all the answers at his finger-tips. "Yes." She replied softly. "I should think it will be fine." She looked down at her empty plate. "The omelette was lovely, thank you so much."

He stepped over so he was standing closer to her and stroked his knuckles gently down her cheek. "It's no more than you deserve, Kitten. Now, do you need anything else or do you want a shower and your bed?"

"I think I would like to sleep now, just a quick shower and I really need to get to bed."

"Off you go, I'll just clear this away." Eliot picked up the plate. Tabby took herself back to the bedroom and had a swift shower. She donned the tee shirt, it smelt clean and fresh. Finally she crawled into the bed, exhausted from the whole day's activity and tension. Within five minutes she was asleep.

* * *

Around five in the morning Eliot quietly opened the door to the spare room, of course, she was sleeping. He moved quietly to the bedside and sat on the chair and watched her sleep, she looked just as he'd imagined that morning in the gym. He wanted to crawl into the bed with her. And that wasn't all he wanted to do! He stared unseeingly at the shadowy ceiling. He generally acted on that sort of impulse, what he wanted, as far as girls were concerned, he went for, if he was rebuffed, so be it, but that rarely happened. But here and now…..dammit he wanted her, but he just couldn't do it. He'd been holding back here for weeks, aware that if he made the move _something_ was going to change irrevocably. He just didn't know how to deal with any of this.

* * *

Tabby awoke to the smell of fresh coffee and something delicious cooking. She lay for a few seconds looking at the ceiling, the last forty eight hours had been…..pretty epic! She'd been recruited by a team of con-men, she gone back on stage and stripped and she spent the night at the home of the sexiest guy she'd ever met. Where did it go from here?

She climbed out of bed and tidied the room.

There was a knock on the door. "Hey, Kitten. You ready for breakfast?"

"Oh, yes…yes, I'll be there in a moment." Tabby was instantly flustered. She was still dressed only in the tee-shirt, and she could hardly go to eat in that. She grabbed her underwear and contemplated her top and jeans, they both smelt of the club, not nice at this hour of the morning. So she turned to the shirt Eliot had given her and slipped it over her underwear. Buttoned up it came halfway down her thighs, no worse than a mini skirt. She rolled up the sleeves to allow her hands out. All she needed was a belt. She ventured out to the kitchen, Eliot had given it to her to wear, so presumably he wouldn't be too appalled by her appearance.

Eliot wasn't appalled, just caught slightly off his guard. She'd pulled her hair back into a rather rough pony tail, she was wearing not a scrap of make-up and she was still flushed from sleep, and as far as Eliot was concerned she looked as hot as she had when she'd emerged in her glad rags last night. She had exactly the same effect on him now as she did then. She looked as if she'd just got out of bed, and he wanted it to be _his_ bed!

"Do you have a belt I could use?" She asked rather tentatively.

Eliot cleared his throat and mumbled. "Sure, I'll find one." He spun on his heel and headed back to his room. Tabby felt a little….deserted. Two minutes later he returned with two so she could make a choice. At least with the belt around that shirt Tabby felt a little more….dressed.

It didn't help much from Eliot's point of view. His mood was…..precarious. Of course he wasn't angry with her, he was angry with the situation. And she looked so damned sexy in his shirt that it made him feel….well, angry. It made him a little short with her, he didn't exactly snarl, but small talk and light conversation wasn't easy.

Tabby found him a little odd this morning, he was still very sweet and polite, making her breakfast and enquiring if she had slept well, but he was also a bit….snarly, if he could be both at the same time.

Eliot was feeling….unsettled and more. He hated what she was doing, he hated what it was doing to him. It had got in the way of his careful pursuit, true the Louella incident had rather spiked things but he'd been trying to work his way back. Now she was thrust at him, doing something so blatantly sexual and provocative that if he made any sort of move he would look like ….a voyeur at best….a pervert at the worst, and insincere whatever he did!

He had to hold his peace, keep her at arms-length, yet guard her with his life and try to make this whole thing as trauma free as he could. All this while running a con, which they'd only half-planned. Until they had some sort of lead they couldn't begin to plan the next move.

This job was beginning to fray his nerves and they had barely even started!

* * *

Later that morning they called in at her flatlet so she could get changed out of the shirt and collect more dancing clothes. Then they headed for the office, arriving around midday to compare notes with Hardison and Parker. Realistically they'd not yet discovered much, but Hardison and Parker were pursuing leads in many directions. The cameras which Eliot had planted were being monitored continuously in the hope of learning anything significant. The camera in Kyle Absalom's office was likely to be the most hopeful source.

Around lunch time Mikel called Eliot and Hardison down to the restaurant for a conference. Whether this was about their appropriation of her from the restaurant, or whether it was about something else entirely Tabby didn't know. She was a little worried, when they'd finished this job she was hoping to go back to her place in the restaurant. Maybe Mikel needed to replace her now!

A short while later Hardison messaged Parker to suggest she should get them all some lunch.

"Dammit!" Parker growled, sounding a lot like Eliot as she did so. "Why can't they bring something back from the kitchens?"

Tabby, however, wasn't a student chef for nothing. "I'll do something." She hopped off the sofa and headed for the kitchen. Parker followed to help, or maybe it was to interfere, Tabby wasn't quite sure which!

So far she'd not talked privately with Parker, she found the girl a little….intimidating, which was odd, because Eliot was surely the intimidating one? It didn't take Tabby long to find that Parker, while in private, did not guard her words.

"You like Eliot?"

Tabby threw her a rather embarrassed look. Only the truth would suffice she realised. "Yes, I like Eliot, me and several hundred other women I believe!" She tried to make light of it.

"That's true." Parker shot her a rather strange look. "Do you know about…..people?"

"People?" Tabby was completely in the dark with that one.

"The way Sophie did. She could read people, she always knew…..how to get round them, how to….con them I suppose. But she understood people."

"You mean she understood you?" Tabby surmised quietly.

Parker cocked her head slightly. "I suppose. I'd never really had a girlfriend before. Of course, I've got Peggy, but she's in Boston."

"And there are things girls can talk about which fella's can't?"

"Yeah."

"Well, if I can help, with anything, I can listen. I won't be anything like the help Sophie was, she had obviously been there and done a lot more than me. I'm only a white trash pole dancer, but I can do my best." Tabby observed quietly.

Parker shot her an indignant glare. "Who said that about you? You'd better not let Eliot hear that, he'll punch them out, and Hardison would too."

Ten minutes later Tabby had more or less finished her lunch preparation and they had got to talking about dancing in general, not specifically stripping. Parker just seemed to accept the stripping was a job, it was the dancing she couldn't understand.

"But how do you do it?"

"What on earth do you mean? You just follow the beat of the tune."

"But how do you learn the beat?"

Tabby stared at her in surprise, to her it was in built, she had rhythm, she always had right from a child. Maybe this was something she could teach Parker!

"You don't listen to music?"

"No, not really. Hardison listens to weird stuff, Nate listens to classical stuff, I don't like it, it's dreary. Eliot…" She paused. "Eliot makes his own music, he sings and plays a guitar sometimes."

Tabby stared at her not sure if she'd heard that properly. "He _sings_?"

"Oh yeah. He was posing as a country singer for one con, he was good too. But it's not sort of _dancing_ music."

"Depends what sort of dancing you do." Tabby reflected dryly. She was still feeling slightly bowled over by the idea that Eliot sang. Was there any end to this man's talents? "Shall I show you what I mean?"

"Yeah, how can you do that?"

"I'll give you a dancing lesson." Tabby grinned. She soon found a suitable musical track on the internet and switched it through the speakers.

Then she showed Parker how to hear the beat, and how to follow it. "Come on, just listen. You can hear lock tumblers, safe combinations, it's far easier than that. You don't need to listen so hard, you need to feel it." She moved her feet in time. "Feel it, follow me."

Parker did as she suggested and suddenly she saw what Tabby was getting at, she'd been trying too hard, trying to look to deep. Tabby began to sway her body in time too. "Come on shake you booty, like Hardison told me to do at the manager."

"He did?" Parker retorted indignantly.

"Yes, but it was meant in the best possible taste." Tabby laughed. "Come on, get with the beat." She began to swing her hips and gyrate her body. Parker stared in amazement, and attempted to follow her, and it wasn't many moments before she found it really wasn't that hard.

Fifteen minutes later they were both standing on the long coffee table giving it large to an invisible audience, Parker was shrieking with laughter and doing her best. Tabby was having fun, and really laying it down.

The music was loud enough that they didn't hear the boys returning. Tabby was now dressed in a pair of slim fitting black jeans and a sleeveless, close fitting black top which hugged her figure and showed her body off to perfection.

As far as Eliot was concerned she might as well have punched him between the eyes. He'd not watched her dance last night, when she'd seen him looking he'd only actually looked for a few seconds. He had realised how much she hated it, and had tried his best not to watch. Now she was fully clothed, and he could stare all he wanted. It took only three seconds for him to be right there and know_ exactly_ what he wanted, he couldn't drag his eyes off her.

Hardison was watching them both with a wide grin, Tabby gyrating and encouraging Parker to do the same, and his girl wasn't doing a half bad job either! He turned to Eliot to make some flip comment about how well Tabby could move, and caught the look on his friend's face.

Dammit all, _that_ was something he'd never seen from Eliot before. He'd seen plenty, Eliot always had an appreciative eye for the girls, occasionally amazed, sometimes appalled, but never that look! The best description was….steamrollered, or maybe slapped with a wet mackerel. Hardison realised the train wreck possibilities here were huge, and for once it might not be the girl who got hurt!

He punched his friend lightly in the arm. "Shut your mouth man!" Then he cleared his throat very loudly.

Tabby swung round guiltily. "Ohh, ooops, sorry. We were just having a bit of fun. Lunch is ready." She hopped off the coffee table and darted into the kitchen.

Eliot beat a hasty retreat into the bathroom leaving Parker and Hardison facing each other.

"Tabby was teaching me to dance." Parker squealed in excitement.

"So I see, and you were doing real well." Hardison grinned at her affectionately. "Well done girl."

Parker bounced happily off the coffee table. "That was fun. Maybe we can do it again later."

Maybe, Hardison thought; only if Eliot had prior warning to face it!

They spent most of the afternoon looking through the tapes from the night before to see if anyone was familiar. Hardison ran a number of facial recognitions on men who had tried to hit on Tabby, but none came up as of any interest at all. Tabby and Eliot got ready for their night at work no wiser than they had been the night before.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

It was Saturday evening. The club was crowded and very busy, Tabby chatted to a few of the girls, but didn't find out anything much, only that many girls came and went. Eliot fared little better.

Once again Eliot insisted she stayed at his apartment, he made her a meal when she got home and he cooked her breakfast when she woke up. He also spent a good hour sitting in the chair by her bedside watching her sleep, but she didn't know anything about that.

* * *

Sunday was Eliot's day off, but Tabby was still expected to work. She'd been feeling so weary after two very late nights that she had fallen asleep on the office couch and slept for most of the afternoon. She was therefore surprised when she woke to find only Eliot still in residence.

"Where are the others?"

"Hardison had tickets to some robot fighting thing, I told him they may as well go, he'll be back here around ten. I'm coming with you to the club anyhow, so I can take you to work."

"But it's your day off!"

Eliot gave a gruff chuckle. "When on a con it's never my day off. I'm watching you, I can't do that unless I'm there, in person."

"But won't people wonder why?"

"I shall dress down, make myself look different. I'll lurk in the crowd, probably won't get noticed. If I do I'll just say I'm waiting for you. We've met now, why shouldn't I be looking to get involved?"  
Tabby eyed him a little dubiously. "Mainly because if the other girls know I will not be flavour of the month. At least two of them are shaping up for a cat fight over you."

"Really?" Eliot couldn't cover the smirk of pleasure at that idea. Not that he was the slightest bit interested, but it was good to know you still had it!

"Careful." Tabby returned sarkily. "Your ego is showing."

"Well, Kitten. You did tell me; if you weren't after a reaction, why bother?" He gave her one of those evil grins that made her pulse race.

She stuck her nose in the air. "I'm going to shower and change now." She stalked off to the bathroom, aware that he was still watching her, and still grinning in that oh-so-sexy way. When she emerged from the large bathroom half an hour later Eliot had also showered and changed ready for the evening in the audience.

Tabby eyed him rather worriedly. Ok, so he did look a little different out of the suit and tie and with his hair loose, and of course she knew him this way, so how could she assess if he looked different enough? But truthfully, looking the way he did there wasn't any one of the girls who wouldn't look twice! His hair was loose and dark and shiny and so…. it just made a girl want to run her fingers through it. He was wearing blue denims and a long sleeved flannel type tee shirt in red, with a leather waist coat over it. He looked….. exactly as Cindy had said…Yummy!

"I don't think much of your disguise." She grumbled softly.

He regarded her through narrowed eyes. "What more can I do? I'll just say I'm there for a drink if anyone asks. Anyhow, I don't think much of yours either."

Tabby looked down at her outfit, she was wearing a lowish cut top and a pair of minute 'Daisy Duke' shorts along with her stilettoes. "It's better than a skirt." She returned sharply. "At least no-one can stick their hand up these."

Eliot scowled at her, yet another fact he could have done without knowing. The longer this went on the angrier he got.

* * *

They set off for the club. Eliot dropped her off and parked around the corner for an hour or so. Nothing much was likely to happen until more alcohol had been consumed, so Tabby should be safe enough out of his sight for a short while, and she had the ear bud anyhow. He didn't like it, but it was sensible to wait until the place filled up before going in as well.

The evening passed much as the two previous evenings. This time Eliot just lurked, but it was actually easier to lurk while working than as a customer, he had access to all areas as a security guy.

Tabby danced, and waited tables, and stripped three times. Eliot did his level best to look the other way, but it wasn't easy. At one-thirty she left and they headed for his apartment again. Tabby had given up arguing, this was the way it was going to be.

* * *

Monday morning, Tabby awoke again in Eliot's spare room, it was around ten o'clock. This was a habit she could really get used to, not the stripping, the staying with Eliot! Except the spare room wasn't where she wanted to be. So near and yet so far!

Her nose told her Eliot was already up making breakfast and coffee.

She really didn't know if he'd been noticed last night, certainly none of the girls had mentioned seeing him, and he'd not said anyone spoke to him. She was well aware that although Cindy had expressed an interest, Kareena, the leggy blonde, was very definitely lying in wait for Eliot!

She pulled on her sweats and made for the kitchen, she would shower when she'd eaten. Half her wardrobe seemed to have made its way to Eliot's place already. Even that thought made her feel warm and fuzzy inside.

"Good morning, Sweetheart." Eliot smiled at her. Tabby smiled back, just wishing the endearment actually meant something.

Accept it, he was a cowboy, Texas near as dammit, it was just the way he talked, he was nice to women!

He placed her breakfast in front of her and she glanced up at him. "This is not fair, how come I get to sleep and you are up and about doing the cooking when you went to bed the same time as me?"

"Used to it. I wake up, I get up. I don't sleep a great deal." Eliot replied philosophically. "There's only one thing which will keep me in bed." He turned away abruptly.

Dammit, why an earth had he said that? It was true, the only thing which would keep him in bed would be to have Tabby in there with him, but he should never have said that. He didn't want to push it, not here and now.

"What are you doing today since you have the night off?" He questioned swiftly, hoping to divert her from what he'd just said.

"I hadn't really thought."

"How about a trip into the hill country? A walk in the woods?"

"With you?" Tabby gazed hopefully at him.

"Of course with me. How else will you get there?"

Tabby blushed and dropped her gaze. "That would be very nice, thank you."

Eliot gave a snort of amusement, she sound like a kid accepting the offer of candy. "Come on then, let's not waste time, I've got to be back for work by seven."

Which gave them hours together Tabby realised with a leap of joy. "But… shouldn't we go to the office and talk over the job?"

"Do you honestly have anything to add today that you didn't have yesterday? I think we've talked it to death, until something moves we are a bit stuck. I'll call Hardison, I'm sure they won't object to a day to themselves."

"We're getting nowhere." Tabby reflected rather despondently.

"No, we are getting well in. We'll give it a few more days, if you are willing. Then we'll try another tactic if we are still no further forward. But realistically these things take time, something will slip eventually. I just hope you don't have to suffer this for too long."

Half an hour later they were heading out of the city. Eliot was dressed….like Eliot, very back woods, he looked like he was off on a hunting expedition with his checked shirt, his hat and fingerless gloves. Truthfully, he often looked that way in the city too. Tabby had merely jeans, trainers and her warmest jacket. They went out and got into his truck, but to Tabby's surprise they headed into an industrial part of town and pulled up at some small warehouses.

"Come on." Eliot grinned.

She followed, puzzled. Up the steps, through the office area, down the steps into a corridor and finally through a door into an underground garage area where several cars were parked.

Eliot steered her to the bright red Chevy Blazer. "In you hop." He grinned again.

"But…?"

"But nothing. It doesn't live out in the open, too obvious. I don't drive it all the time, once again, too obvious. It's my fun toy! Let's go."

They headed towards Mount Hood National Forest. Tabby didn't really care where, she was just thrilled to be out of the city for a while. They followed a route to the hills and wound up in a small town which seemed to be a base for camping, hunting, shooting and fishing.

"Fishing!" Eliot exclaimed. "Oh yeah. I really fancy throwing a worm in the water! How do you fancy a spot of fishing?" He smiled eagerly down at Tabby.

She was taken aback for a second, she'd not been fishing since she went with her Pa, that last summer just before he died. She looked up at Eliot in slight confusion. "Umm…"

"No?" Eliot returned. "Never mind."

"No, no! I'd love to go fishing, honestly." The enthusiasm in his manner and the instant droop of disappointment when he thought she would say no was enough to decide her. Not that he actually_ looked_ disappointed, but she knew he was, she could feel it somehow. If that was what it took to make him happy, she would be happy too. Anywhere with Eliot was fine by her. "I would love it." She reiterated. "Just one thing, I will _not_ spear the worm with the hook!"

"I can do that bit for you." Eliot grinned at her. "Come on, there's a place up there which hires rods." He pointed to the sign. "They will send us to a good place for an hour or two."

Ten minutes later they were off on their impromptu fishing trip, they followed the directions which they'd been given by the bait shop owner and were soon pulling up at a nice spot. They'd not bothered with too many accoutrements. It was a nice day, they'd just got rods, lines and bait and they were only here for a short while.

Tabby sat on the bank and didn't look while he speared the poor worm, then she tried her best not to get everything in a tangle, it was years since she'd done this. Finally they sat in the dappled shade of the trees in a companionable silence.

After about twenty minutes Eliot shifted his position so he was sitting right next to her.

"Not bored?" He enquired softly.

Tabby had been sunbathing and half dozing. She glanced at him and found he was giving her that quizzical little smile, the one that always made her itch to know what he was thinking. She couldn't help the flush that she knew stained her cheeks. "No, I'm not bored. It's lovely to be able to relax and not worry for a while."

"This job worries you?" He questioned softly.

"Oh, no, that's not really the way I meant it." Tabby muttered hastily. She paused, trying to think how to explain, Eliot waited quietly. Hardison accused him of not listening, but it wasn't true, he did listen, to her at least. "It has to be done. I don't like taking my clothes off, but it doesn't hurt me to do it. But….I need to concentrate to do it….properly, so people can't see that I hate it. I must do it right, not miss anything important."

"You have to be at the top of your game." Eliot murmured in quiet agreement. She was good at this, she was a natural born grifter, she understood exactly what it took to do the job. This realisation had been growing since the first night he had seen her perform. Ok, she didn't have Sophie's talent for accents, but she could convince people she was something she was not. True, this role was one she had played many times, but it wasn't her natural role, if she could carry off what she was doing now, she could do most things.

"Yes, here and now I can just be me, not some cocky, confident good-time girl"

"And this is you? Out in the woods?"

"Oh, I wish." Tabby murmured sadly. She lay back and looked at the sun-dappled leaves. "It makes me miss my childhood, miss what I might have had, what I could have been if my Pa hadn't died. I really regret that I lost my mother too because my father died."

Eliot was silent for long moments. "We all have regrets, Kitten." He finally answered her rather gruffly "Not point in looking back. You have to keep moving forward and make the best of things." And his own regrets? They were many, and some too awful to even contemplate. But he could never forget.

She wanted to know so much, but she couldn't ask, were his regrets all down to his work, the things he'd done? Were there other things, like family which caused his self- reproach? He obviously wasn't going to tell her. Tabby recognised the sombre turn of thought and tried to lighten the mood. "I love it here." She rolled over and buried her nose in the grass. "It smells…..real."

Eliot gave a soft chuckle. "Now Hardison would shudder at the smell of 'fresh air'. I don't think I've even known such a city bod as him."

A few seconds later he spoke again. "Kitten, you've got a fish."

Tabby rolled over and sat up to see the end of her rod twitching. She made to grab at it, only to be restrained by Eliot.

"No Kitten, don't rush, if you snatch too hard you might lose it, make sure he's really hooked before you strike."

"What, like in a con?" She picked up the rod and gently eased it before striking for the fish. Eliot stared at her in disbelief. Absolutely, exactly like a con, except it was mental not physical, where had that train of thought come from? She was such a natural at this it was scary! He shook it off and instructed her how to land the fish, truthfully she didn't seem to need his help, but it was a good excuse to stand real close to her.

Five minutes later the fish was on the bank. Eliot carefully removed the hook and Tabby studied the silver dart with awe.

"Dinner?" Eliot questioned.

"Oh no! I couldn't eat him!" Tabby looked up in horror. "He's so beautiful."

"He might be a she." He teased her gently. "So you want me to put him back?"

"Yes, oh yes." Tabby entreated urgently.

Eliot smiled and lowered the fish back into the water, they watched it vanish with a flick of its tail.

"You'd never make a hunter." He teased dryly.

"I don't need to kill him. It's not fair." She retaliated softly.

He smiled at her again in complete understanding. "I know, only take what you need. Food is life, but life is sacred." He caught her hook and threaded another worm onto it. "Unless, of course, you are a wriggly worm." He treated her to that evil grin as he waved it under her nose and she shied away with a squeamish giggle.

"Not true, I feel sorry for the worm as well."

He settled back against the tree to watch her cast the line back into the water. He dragged his eyes back to the river. Best not to watch her, while they were doing things it was fine, but just sitting and watching her….it made his brain and his body both do funny things. Dammit, what didn't he want to do to… no, do _with_ this girl? The more time he spent with her the worse it got, but he sure as Hell didn't want to spend _less_ time with her. He thought the feeling was mutual, but there were still times when he wasn't actually sure!

She was such an…...innocent, which was completely ridiculous and pretty impossible given the way she had lived her life. She had him confused, of that there was no doubt at all.

They headed for home after a day which could only be described as….relaxing; a great chance to unwind for a few hours.


	12. Chapter 12

Now we are getting to the M rated bits, but its pretty mild compared to some I've read on here! Lol. Please let me know what you think so far. Please excuse any errors, its been proof read over and over and I still keep finding mistakes!

Chapter 12

Eliot dropped Tabby off at the restaurant and headed to the club to work, where he would change into his suit. Tabby made her way happily up to the office where Parker and Hardison were watching a movie. She suddenly felt a little embarrassed at crashing in on them, maybe they wanted to stay alone? But she needn't have worried, Parker instantly bounced to her feet.

"Hi Tabby, we've been waiting for you. Do you want to go and eat downstairs?"

"Well, um, I suppose so." Tabby hadn't even been thinking of eating.

Hardison grinned at her. "No Eliot to do the cooking, and we're too lazy."

"I'm no good at it." Parker interjected. "Eliot's tried to teach me, but I really don't get it."

"I'll cook if you like." Tabby offered.

Hardison considered the offer for a second. "No, girl. It's your day off. Come and eat with us."

They descended to the restaurant.

"Did you have a good day? Where did you go?" Hardison probed with interest.

"We went to the woods, and we went fishing." Tabby stated with a grin.

"Fishing!" Hardison shuddered. "Last time Eliot wanted me to go fishing we got captured, escaped, shot at, chased through the woods and blown up. Not a happy memory!"

"But you won in the end." Parker pointed out. "You kicked ass, like always."

"Oh yeah, we sure did." Hardison drawled with a happy grin.

After they had eaten Tabby took herself home to her apartment for the night. She could hardly stay with Eliot tonight, she had no key and she didn't have Parker's talent for picking locks. Anyhow, he would surely appreciate a bit of privacy.

* * *

The following morning Tabby went in to the office earlier than she had been lately. She been in bed and asleep well before midnight, her day in the fresh air had made her sleepy, hence she'd not slept late this morning. Despite the fact he had been at work, Eliot was there before her.

She sat down on the couch as Hardison announced they needed a council of war.

Eliot placed a coffee in front of her and murmured in her ear. "Missed you last night." It was totally true, the place had seemed empty without her. Even though all she did was eat and sleep he still found her presence…..enjoyable. Sleep had been a very long time coming last night, to the point where he'd nearly got up and gone to her place, but he'd managed to restrain himself. He was starting to get obsessive about her, he realised.

The council of war seemed necessary. The job had stalled. They'd made no noticeable progress since infiltrating the club. Parker had found nothing at either Travis Houston's home, or that of Kyle Absalom.

"I need to get into the club and see if they have any records." Parker insisted. This was a task which had so far been avoided, because the club was occupied so much of the night. "I'll have to go in around five or six in the morning." Parker concluded.

"So I'll take Tabby home to bed, then come back to watch your back. It will be daylight." Eliot observed.

Hardison gave him a sideways look. He would do it, but truthfully, Eliot looked tired. He existed on very little sleep, he always did, more so when they were working a con. Much as he might prod, push, deride and infuriate his friend, Hardison didn't like the idea that he was pushing himself so hard. "No. I can do that."

"Hardison! You can't! You can barely look after yourself." Eliot retorted scathingly.

"Not true!" Hardison returned. "But I think you should stay with Tabby. I got a better idea, I think we should call Shelly, he'll give us a hand for a day or two."

Eliot scowled at him, but the very idea of not even trying to sleep tonight was unpleasant, and, yes, he did want to stay with Tabby! "Ok, I'll give him a call." He punched the number on his phone and spoke to his friend.

Tabby was meanwhile just watching and listening, she didn't feel qualified to contribute much. She'd discovered very little herself, just the names of two other girls who had recently left, and Cindy had told her Alicia Cousins had talked about how much she wished she could go home.

Twenty minutes later Shelly loped up the stairs. Tallish, slim and muscly, his build was more like Hardison than Eliot, but he was obviously strong and fit. Light brown hair and pretty good looking, most women would have taken more than a second glance at Eliot's friend.

"Is he a hitter?" Tabby murmured softly to Eliot, who was now seated at her side.

"No, he's ex-special forces. We've been in a fair few tight spots together." He glanced at Tabby, who was eyeing Shelly thoughtfully. "He can do the job. We can trust him." The thought struck him that she was already looking at this whole affair as if she was part of the team.

Hardison outlined the problem to Shelly, they went over everything they'd done to date with the idea that he just might see something they had missed.

The surveillance had hit a brick wall. The girls who Tabby had discovered were completely off the radar, the only chance seemed to be if there was any sort of records in the club itself. It was perfectly possible that the names were assumed, just as Tabby's was, because they seemed to have no bank accounts, no driver's licences. It was suspicious; Tabby however had all those things, courtesy of Alec Hardison esq. Her assumed identity was flawless.

The fact that they could find nothing about the girls, including Alicia Cousins who _had_ a real identity, was worrying. Alicia had a bank account, and it hadn't been touched for over a month. The other girls had nothing on any records.

"They could be dead!" Parker stated bluntly. Never one to mince words, she just said what they were all thinking.

"If that is the case we need to get Tabby out of there, now." Eliot retorted angrily.

"No Eliot, we can't, we need to know and how else are we going to find out? I knew this might be dangerous, and you are there to keep an eye on me." Tabby replied positively.

The bald fact was she was right and they all knew it, it didn't mean any of them were happy about it!

* * *

They went to work in their normal fashion, Eliot in his truck, Tabby in her 'taxi' with Parker. They were still maintaining the distance between them while at work.

Parker chatted as normal to Tabby as they drove. Then she dropped her bombshell question.

"Are you with Eliot?"

"Pardon?" Tabby wasn't certain she'd heard that right.

"Oh, come on! Are you sleeping with Eliot? If you are we should know."

Tabby felt herself flush, but she had nothing to hide here, nothing but her own feelings. "No. No, I'm not."

"Truthfully?" Parker looked at her in the rear view mirror.

"Truthfully."

"Oh, I'm surprised. The way he looks at you I thought you must be."

"Really?" Tabby's heart was doing the most stupid leaps.

"Oh yeah. But maybe he just likes you, and he's worried about you. If he was gonna make a move he would have done it by now. Eliot's never one to hang about and slow play things."

Tabby felt her spirits take a nose dive. So it was too late? She'd been nurturing the possibility that he was taking it slow, but if he never did that, where did it leave her? Without any hope!

* * *

The evening began much as all the others. It had now ceased to bother Tabby, she'd managed to get back inside her 'stripper shell'. The only bad thing about this evening to begin with was how she was feeling after her conversation with Parker. Before her first dance she'd not seen Eliot to speak to, just glimpsed him in the bar, after Parker's words she wondered if he was avoiding her. She'd not been wearing her ear-bud during the conversation, but Parker may have been, maybe Eliot had heard it all!

After her first dance she returned to the bar and was approached by a man she found hard to shake. He looked very rich and sounded very cocky. Tallish and well built, he had a reasonable body and he looked fairly fit, somewhere in his mid -thirties, he was a sort of sandy blonde with flat grey eyes, and he wasn't unattractive to look at, but he didn't appeal much to Tabby. He began to make some fairly explicit suggestions before Tabby finally managed to extricate herself from his company. Typical that the first time she'd really needed Eliot to be there, he wasn't anywhere in evidence! She'd been pleasant to the man, she was paid to do that, but she'd offered him no encouragement beyond the professional front and the usual lies, nothing of herself was allowed out. That was why 'Kirsten' came easy to her; she now acknowledged that her whole life as a stripper had been one big lie.

She returned to the dressing room to prepare for her second dance, and when she came out into the corridor she was greeted by a sight she neither expected nor liked. There in the corridor was Eliot, with Kareena, dressed in only a wrap, draped around his neck, she was laughing breathlessly.

Tabby felt as if she'd been kicked in the stomach. After the wonderful day they'd had yesterday, and how he'd behaved towards her earlier today, she'd just not expected this!

She'd _never_ expected this, she acknowledged! She'd never believed he would allow himself to be side-tracked when he was working, he'd seemed so intense about the whole job. She'd got the impression from Parker and Hardison that Eliot was taking this particular job very seriously because lives were involved, not just money and property.

Eliot did at least have the grace to look taken aback by Tabby's appearance. He removed Kareena's arms from around his neck and set her back on her feet. "There ya go." He drawled at her. "No damage done."

Kareena simpered at him and waltzed past Tabby into the dressing room, flashing her a triumphant grin as she passed. Tabby felt sick. She struggled to keep her expression bland. She knew Kareena had been in hot pursuit for days, obviously she was making progress.

She turned to hurry down the corridor past Eliot, who stopped her by grabbing her wrist.

"Hey, hang on, Kitten."

"What?" Tabby snapped. "I'm due on stage!"

"Yeah, I know, but that was nothing." Tabby raised her eyebrows. "She fell off her heels!"

Very conveniently too, Tabby thought.

"I could hardly let her fall over! I wasn't messing about on duty."

"It's entirely up to you what you get up to." Tabby returned, struggling to keep the hurt from her voice. Parker had been so right. No move meant exactly that, no move was ever going to happen!

"Tabby…." He growled.

"I have to go." Tabby yanked her wrist from his grasp and sped away towards the stage.

"Eliot?" Hardison spoke in the ear bud.

"It's nothing. Tabby's just gone on stage." Eliot growled. Tabby was not wearing her ear-bud, but he didn't want to discuss this with Hardison, so he didn't point this fact out.

He watched her go in a mixture of anger and frustration. It had been totally innocent on his part. He knew perfectly well that Kareena had staged it, but how could he have avoided it? Now Tabby believed he was eyeing up the other girls, as his notorious reputation would lead anyone to think, when in truth the only one he had the slightest interest in was her. And damn it all, it wasn't slight!

He glanced down at his hand, the feel of her slender wrist still burned him. He'd managed to avoid touching her much over the last few weeks. It had been so tempting, but he knew it was a mistake. The only times he'd really touched her was when he'd hugged her after she'd stitched his wound, and when he'd comforted her that first night here. Both had seemed reasonable at the time. Other than that he'd brushed against her, touched or held her hand on a couple of occasions, and every time he had felt it like electricity. He was afraid of the contact, afraid that if it got started it would burn him up, totally. What the Hell was he going to _do_ about this?

He hurried back to the bar, Tabby was going on stage, he needed to be there to watch out for her.

* * *

The evening passed much as every other one, Tabby's eager escort from earlier on persisted in his attentions. When she returned to the room after her second stint one of his friends, or bodyguards as she had surmised, asked her to join them in their booth. She pointed out that she had to work, but agreed to join them for a short while. She wanted to refuse, but Kyle Absalom was lurking close, and when she glanced at him he indicated that she should go with the man. She had little choice. Eliot was also lurking and he saw the byplay, he could hardly interfere.

So Tabby went and sat in the booth for a while, maybe only twenty minutes, it crossed her mind that it was similar to the way Eliot always ambushed her to stay with him, but it was a lot less pleasant. She couldn't fault the man's behaviour, his name was Drake and all he did was talk to her, asked her where she was from and about her career. Kirsten Cooper's life story was revealed to him, not in any detail, but Tabby was glad to have the facts at her finger-tips.

As soon as she could reasonably manage she excused herself and returned to work. He wasn't the only man she talked too by any stretch of the imagination. There were already men she recognised as regulars, men whose names she already knew, who stopped her for a chat every time she moved near them. It was the job, to be nice to the men who came here, that was why they were here!

* * *

The evening drew to a close and Tabby gratefully changed and headed for the parking lot to meet Eliot. Now she had another dilemma to face.

They drove off in virtual silence. Things between them had been a little off since earlier this evening.

She sat back and took out her ear-bud. "Eliot, can you take me to my place, please. I'm sorry if it's a bit out of the way." Tabby had decided she'd got to stamp on this before she got in any deeper. She needed to put distance between them, she already knew this was going to break her heart, she just couldn't allow herself to keep dreaming any longer, especially after what happened earlier this evening.

"_Why_?" Eliot demanded. Tabby flinched at the annoyance in his tone.

This had to be about the Kareena incident!

"Kareena engineered that….incident." He stated flatly. "I was nothing to do with me! She lurched off her heels and used me to hold her up!"

Tabby glanced at him doubtfully, could that be true? He hadn't looked bothered by it until he'd seen her. But then again, wasn't that exactly what she'd known instinctively about Eliot? He liked women, he chatted to all women, he just had that charisma that drew them to him, and he knew it. But that wasn't the point here.

"It's not that." She denied, not totally truthfully. "It's just…..Parker was talking about the fact that I stay with you."

Eliot flicked his ear bud out, this was definitely a private conversation. "It's my business who stays with me, not hers. I want you there."

"But Eliot…..people will get the wrong idea." She took a measured breath, and said it. "She asked me if I was sleeping with you."

Once again he slapped his foot on the brake and pulled up with a shriek of tyres.

"Tabby." He growled. "This is not up for debate. You are coming home with me."

"But Eliot…."

He let loose a groan of frustration, flicked undone his seat belt, and then hers, and hauled her across the seat into his arms. Before she'd had time to do more than squeak in surprise he was kissing her, and it wasn't a friendly peck.

His lips were hard and demanding on her own, not at all the way she'd imagined it would be. Had it been anyone but Eliot she would have fought, hard. Instead she just accepted, if this was all he was offering she already knew she would take it, she was so under his spell she was powerless to resist. But things changed, swiftly. He softened his mouth on hers, realising she wasn't going to fight. He didn't want to be so rough with her, he wanted her soft and willing. None of this was her fault, she wasn't to blame for his inability to control his feelings at the moment.

He gathered her as close against himself as he could in such an awkward space, and kissed her more gently, trying to encourage her to respond. He traced his tongue gently along her lips, teasing and begging for her to open to him. She did.

Tabby had no idea how long they teased and explored, but as far as she was concerned it was over too soon.

When he finally released her mouth he growled against her lips, "Who says it's wrong? Just because I haven't made a move doesn't mean I don't want to, or that I'm not going to. I didn't think it was a great idea to drag you into my bed right after you'd started appearing naked around me. That would look like I'd never thought of it before, when I've actually been thinking about it for weeks."

Tabby was lying across his lap, and she was transfixed by the passion in his tone, that kiss had been something outside her experience, this was all too surreal.

He stroked his fingers through her hair, pushing it away from her temple to press a kiss there. "Talk to me, Tabby. Earlier I didn't want to rock the boat, things seemed so right when we were together, I didn't want to push too hard and spoil something….precious. I thought it might all blow up in my face. But I can't _do_ this anymore. I can't keep watching you with those other men. I want you, and I want you to be mine." He regarded her with a scowl.

She still lay across his lap, her face only inches from his, but that scowl wasn't angry. She could feel the frustration, the desperation…..a mirror of what she felt herself. She'd heard the words, but she was having trouble making sense of them, she'd just never _dared_ to think…...hope rose in her heart.

"So, do you still want to go home? Just because you come with me doesn't mean we have to _do_ anything, I want to, but only if _you_ want to. I can wait, but I just need to know that….well…..maybe." He growled softly.

Tabby stared at him and gave a little shake of her head. "No." She whispered.

"You are coming with me?" He wasn't exactly sure what she'd meant by the 'no'"

"Yes." Hope began to blossom within her.

He pushed her back across the seat and fastened her belt. Then he set the truck back in motion. Not another word was spoken the whole way home. Tabby felt as if she was in some strange dream, if she talked about this the spell would be shattered.


	13. Chapter 13

The real M Chapter!

* * *

Chapter 13

When they arrived at Eliot's home he made them both a snack, just as he always did. Conversation was still minimal and revolved around what they were eating.

By this point Tabby was beginning to panic, she was such a seething muddle of emotions. Of course she wanted to be with Eliot, but there were things here that he didn't know, that he most certainly wouldn't expect! Should she tell him, or just let things ride and allow him to find out? Because the way things were going, he _would_ find out! He would be expecting, because of her history and her occupation, that she was an experienced girl in the relationship and sex stakes. He would expect that sleeping with him would just be a progression of this relationship. Far from it! She'd reached the grand age of twenty-five, and she was still a virgin!

How on earth would he react to that? Should she just say she didn't want to sleep with him? But the truth here was that she did!

It wasn't long before the moment arrived, Tabby was now petrified. Eliot seemed to sense her fear.

"Come here." He coaxed softly. She hesitantly stepped up to him and he framed her face with his hands. "Now, you are not scared of me, surely? You know me well enough by now."

"No." Tabby argued quietly. "I don't know you at all. I only know what you have let me see, and that's not a lot. You know that. You lock it all away, never let anyone see. All I know is that you are not what people think."

"Then how do you know you want to be with me? Are you sure you want to do this?"

Tabby stared at him in confusion. It was a good question, somewhere deep inside she just _knew_. "Because….because." She took a shaky breath. "I just know." She gave a small shrug. "Is that silly?"

He smiled gently down at her, that smile which always made her insides go all stupid and muddled. "Totally crazy. But who cares." He dropped a gentle kiss on her lips and drew back a fraction of an inch to murmur. "We need to be very careful here. It's all about chemistry."

"What?" Tabby breathed softly. What was he talking for? She didn't want to talk, she didn't want to think, she just wanted….she didn't exactly know!

"Didn't you know? When certain chemicals are mixed together they have a tendency to explode." He dropped his lips back to hers, and he could feel the amusement, he felt her relax just that little bit more, exactly what he'd wanted. "Tabby….this _is_ me."

Tabby's heart did a ridiculous lurch, as if it wasn't already racing wildly!

He kissed her gently again, it started gentle, but it got deeper, and hotter and wilder and wetter until Tabby couldn't think straight. All she knew was the desperation, the need to get closer to him, she pressed herself frantically against his hard body, his hand was in the small of her back holding her tight against him as he ground his hips against her. If there had been the slightest doubt of what he wanted, she could feel it now.

Finally he broke the kiss. "Dammit, girl." He growled breathlessly. "You're driving me crazy here." He steered her to his bedroom and within seconds he had stripped off her top and pulled her down on the bed, his hands were on her breasts, teasing her nipples, his mouth at her throat as she gasped and writhed beneath his touch.

"Eliot." She entreated. "This isn't fair."

"What?" He stopped instantly.

She seized the front of his shirt and started on the buttons, but her fingers were trembling so badly she couldn't manage, she felt the laugh of relief reverberate through his chest.

"Oh. I can deal with that!" He pulled away, hauled the shirt and vest top off over his head in one action, and consigned them to the floor, oblivious of the fact several buttons pinged off as he did so. "What else?"

"Everything." Tabby demanded breathless with excitement.

"Ok. " He smiled joyfully at her and shed the rest of his clothes. "Now it's your turn."

Tabby was too busy being transfixed by the sight of his naked body, well and truly ready for action, the recently healed scar still showed red across his abdomen.

"Oh, God." She murmured softly.

"Not quite!" Eliot replied with a wolfish grin, "Turn over."

Tabby obliged, unsure what he was planning. He unfastened her skirt and pulled both it and her panties from her body. She went to turn over, but he pinned her to the bed and ran his hands up over her bottom and on up her back. She wriggled ecstatically beneath his touch.

"Ooooh, that feels lovely." It felt even better when he followed with his mouth, kissing and licking and nipping along her spine. He worked his way up her back to kiss her neck, and rolled her over to cover her body with his own.

Without missing a beat he reached out to the nightstand to extract a condom, which he pushed under the pillow. "Oh, yeah. This is gonna be good." He breathed in her ear.

Tabby could only hope she wouldn't turn out to be a dreadful disappointment. She was a rank amateur, as he would soon discover!

She just followed his lead, she'd never been in this position before, the only time she'd been naked in the presence of a man had been when she was working, in public! She rather expected him to turn out the lights, but he didn't seem inclined to do that. She wasn't exactly embarrassed about her body, how could she be? But she was working blind here. She tentatively ran her hand over his chest, something she'd wanted to do that day in the office when she had stitched the wound.

Now they had got to this position Eliot suddenly found the urgency had gone, he wanted to make this memorable. She was one beautiful, sexy little lady and he wanted her to remember _him_ above anyone else. He slid his hands back up her body and started again, burrowing his fingers through her hair and gently nibbling at her earlobe. He was going to make her beg, get her so hot she didn't know what to do next. At the moment her touch was very tentative, he'd expected her to be somehow…..bolder. He eased himself off her body, as far as he was concerned sex could also be a spectator sport; yes, he wanted to feel her beneath him, giving him everything, but first he was going to watch her, enjoy this lovely little body with his eyes and his hands. Now he was going to let go of all the pent up jealousy which had been festering for days, all those men looking at her, lusting after her. Now he was going to look his fill, and touch and make her cry out for him; the more he thought about this the harder he got, but he was _not_ going to rush things.

Tabby was just….confused. Oh she'd done her fair share of thinking, and reading and even watching instructional videos, but to her sex had always been something a little….male oriented. Most of the men she encountered were only interested in getting inside her for their own satisfaction, it was just the way it was in the life she had lived, and she had kept them all at arms-length. Since getting out of the business she only met men on a strictly formal basis, on her course or as she lived her life, she'd not _dated_ even once. Truthfully, she'd actually dated only a very few times in her life, the whole thing just frightened her. So now, she was in at the deep end! How long before Eliot realised how inexperienced she really was?

His hands were everywhere, his mouth was everywhere, he could hardly be disappointed at her reaction, she was totally submissive to his touch, responding mindlessly to each little caress, but he was rather surprised at her own actions. She was touching him, but she was very tentative, restrained, shy; he'd expected more….aggression. Not that it mattered, in fact he never found aggressive women that much of a turn on, he didn't particularly like being grabbed. He liked to be gentle with a woman, and much preferred that in return, he had enough violence in his life without transporting it into his bed!

When she closed her fingers softly around his cock he damned near lost it completely. That was not what he'd planned. Send her over the edge, yes, but he didn't want to give in, not until he was inside her. She didn't really do anything, just moved her hand and squeezed very gently. That was it, he'd had it!

He seized the condom, and suddenly he was there, between her thighs, stroking and probing and pushing gently into her. Tabby gasped and lifted her hips as he made a shallow entry.

She was so hot and wet, but so tight, he felt the resistance and changed his approached slightly. He wrapped his arm round her to lift her hips and allow for better entry. Then he pushed firmly, wanting to feel himself deep within her, unable to hold back any longer. He was not prepared for the gasp of pain, for the cry of reaction, for the way it felt! But it was too late to hold back, it was done in a heartbeat, he was inside her, buried deep.

"Tabby!" He gasped in surprise, and some dismay. He'd hurt her! He's not expected this! "You're a virgin!"

Tabby opened her eyes to look straight at him, her eyes bright with tears. "Was. Not now."

"Oh, God. I didn't know. I never thought… I'm so sorry."

"I'm not." Tabby murmured softly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He growled in distress.

"Because…you might not have wanted me." Tabby whispered.

"Don't be silly. How could I have wanted you less? I would have been more careful if I had known, that's all."

But they both knew that wasn't entirely true. If he had known he might _not_ have taken this step. He might not have risked taking her virginity, because she may then expect him to stay?

Was she going to think this meant more than it really did?

Tabby was under no illusions here, she knew this wasn't forever. Just because she loved him didn't mean he returned her feelings. She was an inexperienced woman in the big bad world, and she was pretty sure he would fear she would cling to him. But she wouldn't, she understood better than he could ever realise who and what he was, and she understood the danger of getting involved. But she didn't care, he was going to break her heart, but something was better than nothing. Eliot wanted and needed no woman on a permanent basis, a virgin was a risk not worth taking._ That_ was why she hadn't told him.

"I didn't mean to hurt you." He murmured against her temple. She was tight, and tense, and a bit resistant now.

"I know. And you didn't, not really." Tabby tried to relax, she knew that was what she needed to do, but it felt so…..strange, she felt so powerless, she had literally thrown herself to the wolf. He kissed her gently, hoping to help her relax, what was done was done, there was no point in turning back now, he needed to make this first time good. He soothed and stroked her again, kissing and biting gently at her throat, he could feel her softening beneath him as he tried to hold himself still and not hurt her any more. Little by little she relaxed until she finally moved against him. "I'm sorry I'm so….useless."

"Silly!" Eliot growled softly. "I scared you, if I'd known it wouldn't have been that way. I'll teach you." He moved very gently against her.

Tabby lifted her hips to push against him. "Please?"

"Oh, yes." He eased away and pushed gently into her again. "Does it hurt now?"

"No." Tabby breathed. "Now it feels….. Oh….please, show me how."

"Your body knows how." He pushed again and she reacted with a breathless little moan. "You like that?"

"Yes, yes….please."

It wasn't long before Tabby was gasping and crying out as she reached the peak and crashed over the edge. A bright shaft of pure, incandescent pleasure sliced through her, she clung to him, gasping and trembling with reaction. Before the tumult had really subsided she felt him gasp and stiffen and follow her over the precipice. She'd known, but she'd never been there, the _real_ knowledge was something entirely unique.

Eliot eased off her and then gathered her close against his warm body.

"Good?"

"Mmmm." Tabby snuggled her face into his neck. She wasn't quite sure what she felt; a little embarrassed maybe, but happy and very weary. She didn't really want to talk about this, not at this very moment.

"Sleep time." He murmured softly against her ear. She felt him detach himself from her and slip from the bed. A few seconds later the light went out and he was back at her side, settling her comfortably against him. "Sleep now, we'll talk later."

Tabby closed her eyes gratefully, she wasn't sure exactly what there was to say. She drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Eliot woke in the semi-darkness, instantly alert for what had woken him. Then he realised, Tabby lay close beside him and she had stirred against him. He wasn't used to this, he never brought his night time relaxation home with him, and he rarely spent the entire night with them either.

Whatever his friends might think about his sex life, and he hoped they didn't think about it at all because he certainly tried not to think about Parker and Hardison, it wasn't as lurid as they believed! What happened, specifically, was the nights he badly needed to sleep he went out and picked up a girl, went back to her place, got laid, slept for a few hours and came home again. That way he managed to sleep for longer than three hours, otherwise he woke continuously throughout the night, often only sleeping for an hour or so at a stretch.

The girls he occasionally dated, as in not just picked up as bed-mates, frequently didn't get that far, because they were not those kind of girls, and he wasn't ever looking for the long haul. One or two dates and he was out of the door, he wasn't looking for a partner. The sort of girl he liked enough that he might stay with would consider him a bad risk; dammit he _knew_ he was a bad risk, he might be dead next week. That and the things that lay in his past! How could he reveal what he'd done? What girl could ever accept such things? How could he enter into a relationship knowing that he couldn't be truthful? Mutual trust just couldn't exist. So he stayed alone, sometimes very alone.

Tabby moved softly in her sleep. He lay on his back staring at the ceiling in the dim light from the small lamp by the door. This place was private, his bolt hole, so it wasn't just Tabby who had allowed someone in last night. What had he done? This was damned stupid, where was this leading? What about tomorrow, next week?

She shifted slightly once again, then she murmured softly. He turned his head to look at her sprawled beside him, hair spread across the pillow. His body reacted instantly. He pushed back the covers and looked at his disobedient cock. Dammit, how and why did she affect him so badly? He hadn't been turned on by a girl in this way since he was a teenager! Not that he ever had any problem getting his rocks off, but he consciously made the decision to go and get laid, he might fancy the look of a girl, but he controlled his body, it didn't control him!

He stared back at the ceiling and willed that control to return, but she moved again, rolling slightly towards him. Then she woke.

"Oh." She made to move away from him, and realised he too was awake. "Sorry." She murmured softly. "Was I thrashing about? Did I wake you?"

"No and No. I wasn't asleep."

"Oh….why not?"

"You're not."

"Oh." She lay silent for a second. "Eliot…."

He rolled over and pulled her body close against his. "Does that answer your question?" He murmured. "I'm not used to anyone being here."

Tabby couldn't suppress the thrill that shot through her, she gasped as she felt his aroused body. "Oh."

"Exactly …'Oh'." He growled in her ear and ran his hand down over her hip, he could feel her quivering beneath his hand. "Are you happy with this? I don't want to hurt you, I wasn't exactly gentle last time. You might be sore."

"I…I think I'm fine?" Tabby murmured, aware that her face was burning with embarrassment.

"Again?" He persisted softly.

Tabby was aware that if she said no, it would be just that. But …. "I think so. If it hurts I will tell you."

"Good girl." Eliot stroked her body. "We'll take it slow." He caught her hand and guided her to touch him. "Ooooh, girl, you make me so hot." He moulded her soft little body against his and felt her shiver, it felt….right.

He'd not been exactly rough last time, but, despite his best intentions, he not maintained control the way he'd meant to do, she'd got him so lathered up that he'd been a little….hasty. This time he _would_ keep things gentle, he was going to make her cry from sheer pleasure!

And he did, gentle hands, gentle mouth, who needed hard and harsh? This was all about pleasure. A great deal was made of pleasure and pain being closely allied, and maybe they were, sometimes. But Tabby didn't need the pain, she needed to know this could be….wonderful. As far as he was concerned sex which needed whips and domination missed the mark somewhere along the line. Tabby, of course, had no idea, yet; and if he had anything to do with it, she would never need to know. It was perfectly possible to be….assertive without being violent, if he couldn't satisfy her this way, he didn't deserve to keep her.

This time he was going to go slow, but Tabby responded to every touch, every move, until slow just wasn't going to cut it. He settled himself between her thighs and slid carefully into her, back where he belonged. He knew it, and she knew it too, but he wondered if either would ever admit it. He was going to take it slow, even now, going to make it last, drive her to distraction more than once, or at least, that was his aim. But it didn't happen that way, as her response became more heated he couldn't help but join her, and when she crashed over the edge, he went too. This was crazy, he just never reacted this way to a girl! But the truth was there, indisputable, he just did.

It was something to do with the way she gasped his name in that second before the ecstasy took her, it made him feel…..he wasn't certain he could even begin to explain, but it certainly spiked any resistance he had, he just went with her. And after he found himself laughing softly, partly at the lovely way she melted against him and into him, but partly at himself. Now that was a first, to lose control that way during sex would have annoyed him before, he had to be in control, always! This time…..it didn't seem to matter because there would be next time, and the time after, and onwards.

This was the point when it dawned on him that he had already started thinking of her being around on a permanent basis.

Tabby couldn't help the tears that filled her eyes, this had been the most incredible night of her life. Making love with the man she loved. She knew he didn't feel the way she did, she accepted that, but he had been so sweet to her, especially this time. He'd been so gentle and caring, so concerned that it was good for her.

"Hey, Kitten. Why the tears?" He brushed them gently away. He'd told himself he would make her cry, he'd never expected it to happen. He pushed aside all the weird feelings roiling inside and concentrated on her.

Tabby gave a wordless little shake of her head and moved to lay her cheek on his chest. "Why now?" She asked softly.

"Why what now?"

"Why did you suddenly decided this was what you wanted?"

"I told you, it wasn't suddenly." He stroked her hair. Not suddenly, now; it had been suddenly the first time he'd seen her. It had been pure lust, like being struck by lightning, she'd been the cutest thing he'd seen for weeks and he had wanted her. But since then things had….changed.

The more he knew of her, the more he understood. He knew why Toni had sent her, he didn't have to explain this, but he wanted her to know.

"Kitten, Toni sent you here for a reason. He knew you had no-one, he wanted you to have a family, people who understand what it is like to be alone, to have no-one else. We understand. He sent you to us so you could belong."

Tabby stared up at him in amazement. How could Toni have known what she wanted? How could Eliot see the lonely little girl who still cowered inside, afraid to be happy, afraid that it would all be ripped away again?

Eliot stroked her face gently. "I understand. I know Toni. He was the first person to offer me a way back from what I'd become, to show me there was something more, Nate carried on what he had started." He looked at her rather guiltily. "I don't imagine he intended _this_ to happen. But…..we can work this out, Kitten."

Yes, he was damned sure Toni hadn't considered this, he'd sent her to be understood, so she could have friends, not so she could be seduced and possibly hurt! Eliot was in a total muddle about this whole thing, but trying to stop it was like swimming against a flood tide.

Tabby stared at him in utter confusion. What exactly was he saying? This _wasn't_ a quick fling?

"As for this, like I said, it wasn't suddenly. I couldn't make any sort of move sooner, I wanted you to… feel you _did_ belong here. I didn't want to take advantage." He slid his hand down her body. "And it truly wasn't because you took your clothes off, though that did make me pretty damned hot! In the end….it just got beyond bearing."

He watched her knowing in his heart that this was more than just a physical need. She knew more of what he was than anyone now. He'd let down his guard. The rest of the crew knew that he'd been…frankly, an evil bastard, but they didn't probe. He'd made choices, all the wrong choices and he'd spend the rest of his life regretting that and trying to make amends. They'd accepted that he had changed and they left it all behind the steel armour. This girl…..she didn't ask, but somehow she seemed to dissolve the armour, to reach in and squeeze his heart the way no-one else had ever done since any of his life really happened. He found himself wanting to tell her things, but he held back for fear of her reaction. On some level she must realise what he had done…..but could she really accept the truth? The only way she could and would ever stay would be if she knew and accepted the truth. Maybe not chapter and verse, he could never ever bring himself to admit that, but an acceptance of the reality of what he'd done, that was the only way they could have any future.

"Tabby, you know I've done dreadful things."

"Of course you have, you were a soldier. And now you do good things to make up for it." Payback, but so far it had never been enough, Tabby realised. It had also dawned on her that this was the reason Eliot did not seem to feel fear. He felt that if it happened, then it was deserved; so if he got injured, or even died in the defence of his friends, it was justified. He was paying his debt to the world. "Eliot, you just have to believe that it makes no difference. You can tell me, or not tell me, it's up to you and I won't ask you again, but whatever you chose to tell me it won't change anything. I can accept things as they are, I know nothing can change what is in the past, and it won't change what I feel either. Truly."

She felt more than hear the sigh. "Tabby, you don't understand. I don't know if you could ever understand."

No, he was the one who didn't understand. She wasn't stupid, she knew it was bad. But she also knew he had changed, and the past was the past.

How long before he felt he could give up this crusade? Would that ever happen? Tabby realised there would be very little chance for them as a couple until he felt he had done enough. He would never commit himself, or her, to anything permanent while he was still so clearly in the line of fire.

As far as she was concerned it was no more than a soldier on active duty. But he saw it as more, because he deliberately put himself directly in the danger zone. He would not commit to her until things changed. He was her hero, her knight in shining armour, but until things changed, he was a knight who would ride away.

She snuggled against him to sleep, aware that the feelings of satisfaction and happiness at her present position were now tinged with sadness.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

When Tabby next woke it was daylight, and this was Eliot's room, not the spare room. Her nose twitched, no smell of coffee or breakfast had awoken her. She shifted slightly to glance over her shoulder just as a finger ran down her back.

No breakfast because he was still here with her. His words returned to her, the one thing that would keep him in bed….a woman…..her? A thrill of anticipation sliced through her again. She rolled over to meet him with a tumult of feelings churning inside her. She loved this man to the other side of eternity, but along with that heady feeling was the knowledge that this was a man with one foot out of the door, always. There was no point in believing she had tamed him, he wouldn't _be_ caged, he wanted and needed his freedom. She was in his bed for now, not for ever.

She snuggled close against him with a needy little murmur. Eliot gathered her close, she felt delightful, that little sound hit him right where it mattered. He dropped a kiss on her forehead and she lifted her eyes to his. She looked…..happy; maybe a little wistful, but totally happy to be there in his arms. He loved it, but he couldn't disguise the worries it raised about the future.

"Tabby…" He began softly.

She forestalled him, seeming to read his mind. "It's all right. You don't need to say anything, I'm not expecting any sort of declaration, or promises for the future. This is just you and me, now. I know that."

Eliot gave a slightly frustrated sigh. "Sweetheart, I don't want to make promises I can't keep. I did that once before, I won't do it again."

"I know." Tabby returned softly. "That is why I'm telling you. I expect nothing."

Eliot was aware that he wasn't really happy with that either! Confusion of the brain cells! In the past such a declaration would have been welcomed, now he really wasn't sure. He didn't want her walking out of the door today and not coming back. This was far too good to waste.

So, convince her to stick around. He kissed her softly, she was so sweet and responsive. Dammit, this had already got serious, she seemed to have him in a state of semi-readiness all the time, just the feel of her snuggling against him and he was ready for action, if he didn't get this under control they'd be here for another couple of hours. What he'd said to her about promises was true, but she wasn't just a bed-mate, she was a lover, he could feel that right now.

"What time is it?" She murmured. Much as she would love to lie here with him all morning, people would be wondering, as if they weren't all ready!

"Breakfast time." Eliot replied and sat up pushing his hair out of his eyes. Control, he'd got to get this back under control. In seconds he was out of the bed. Tabby was about to follow. "No, you stay put. We're going to have breakfast in bed. Give me five minutes."

Tabby lay back on the pillows with a little laugh, she'd never been spoiled like this in her life, it was lovely. She still couldn't quite get how he went from loving to practical in a split second, but that was just him, dark and light, he was the most mercurial man she'd ever met.

In a very few minutes she smelt coffee, and then waffles. It was probably longer than five minutes but Eliot returned with a tray laden with coffee, orange juice, waffles and maple syrup. Tabby couldn't contain her laughter at the fact he was still naked, but wearing an apron.

"What's so funny?" He growled. "I don't need to burn any delicate bits, do I?"

Tabby was convulsed with mirth. He plonked the tray down, whipped off the apron and pounced on her. All Tabby could do was giggle as he pushed her flat onto the bed, but what he did next made her laugh even more. He grabbed the maple syrup and poured a trail between her breasts and down her stomach.

"That'll teach you." He crowed.

Tabby was shrieking with laughter. "Oh, _Eliot!_ That will make such a mess. It will get everywhere."

"Yeah, but clearing it up is going to be fun!"

It was fun, and it involved a great deal of squealing, wriggling and giggling. Eliot insisted on eating the waffles and dipping them in the maple syrup, as well as licking, and spreading, the maple syrup over most of her front! Tabby was at a distinct disadvantage, stuck flat on her back and unable to move in case she made even more mess. Truthfully Eliot couldn't have cared less about the mess, but it was a good excuse to feed her too. When they finally collapsed in a sticky heap to drink the coffee and the orange juice it was a debatable point as to who was the most sticky.

Eliot pulled himself over her and lay on her, which was sticker than ever. "Hmm, I think a shower is in order. I rather fancy a shower with you. Are you gonna wash my back?"

"I expect I can, are you going to wash my hair? Cos I've got maple syrup in it!"

"Anything else?" Eliot licked a bit more maple syrup off her breast. "Seems like a waste of maple syrup, but I think I've eaten plenty. Now I'm hungry for something else. Wanna try slightly less sticky sex in the shower?" He'd given up worrying about control, he'd lost it!

The mobile sounded on the nightstand. Eliot shot it a filthy look. He didn't want to bother with it, but if it was Hardison there was no telling what he might do if he got no reply. It was only ten minutes to the restaurant, and he didn't want to be rushed in the shower.

He reached over and grabbed the phone, Tabby was still pinned beneath him. "Euuch, maple syrup on the buttons!" Eliot hissed. "It's Hardison. Shut up, girl!"

Tabby was trying her utmost not to giggle, but his expression was so comical, as if looking angelically innocent could in any way convince Hardison that his words were true. "Hi, man. Yeah, Tabby's still….in bed." He paused for a second. "I guess she's tired, I'll go and wake her. I expect she'll want a shower." He paused again. "See you in a while."

He threw the phone back onto the table. "Tabby's still in bed, and she can't get up cos I'm lying on her!" He gave her that wolfish grin again. "I wonder what he would have said to that?" Tabby couldn't contain her giggles. "Of course, we shall have to tell them, but maybe not quite like that."

Tabby sobered instantly. "You will tell them?"

"Yes. There are things we can't keep from each other, it affects how we work together. We need to be aware of….." He paused for a second. "Everyone's emotional state." He looked down at her. "Don't look so worried, it won't be a big deal."

Not for him, maybe, but it was for her!

"Anyhow, they went to the club around five this morning, they've got loads of stuff to look at and want us to take a look too."

That seemed reasonable. "So we'd better get up." Tabby reflected.

"Come on, time for a shower." He rolled off her and picked her bodily from the bed and headed into the wet room.

It took a while! It started as 'maple syrup removal' but that got left by the wayside pretty quickly. The feel of his soapy hands on her was just too erotic and afterwards Tabby was pretty certain that she'd been the one to lose the plot first. Eliot had been trying to concentrate on washing her hair, she was more interested in kissing him, he didn't resist for long.

It wasn't many moments before she was pinned against the wall with her legs wrapped around his hips as he thrust desperately into her. Tabby's sex education was progressing very swiftly, and every bit of it was good!

It was lunchtime before they made it into the office. Parker and Hardison were flicking through files on the computer, Shelly was making coffee.

"How did it go this morning?" Eliot enquired.

"No problems. Security is pretty minimal, what is there to steal except booze? Not exactly high tech." Parker observed.

"Was there anyone about?"

"Deserted." Shelly came through with the coffee. "All I did was stand and watch, not a soul about. Parker was in and out in ten minutes."

"Found anything?" Eliot questioned.

"Lot's, but not much of any relevance. Maybe some of these names mean more to you two. Anything new last night?" Hardison questioned.

"Not so as you'd notice." Eliot returned. "Actually…."

Tabby cut him off. "Well, in fact there is something." He swung to look at her, she realised he had been about to spill the beans on their situation, and he was wondering now if she was going to beat him to it. She flashed him an apologetic little smile. "Can you show me some footage from last night?" He gave her a small scowl, not angry, but slightly aggrieved that she had stopped him, but that wasn't what she'd meant to do, she really had thought of something important. "Sorry, Eliot, we'll get to that. But there was a man last night, he was a little….odd."

"Why didn't you tell me last night?" Eliot demanded immediately.

"Because I forgot, and you saw him anyhow. But I got…side-tracked."

Eliot shot her another look that was a combination of annoyance, exasperation and satisfaction. Parker didn't miss it. She elbowed Hardison, who had missed it totally.

"What, girl?"

"You should have been looking." She hissed.

"At what?" Hardison glanced around.

"Oh, nothing. Never mind, later." Parker muttered.

Tabby was sitting next to Shelly and was already engrossed in the tapes from last night which Hardison was speeding through the player, she couldn't afford to look away, she might miss him. Eliot, however, didn't miss the byplay between Hardison and Parker. He walked around behind the sofa and dropped his head to murmur in Parker's ear.

"The answer now is yes."

Parker stared round at him speculatively. "Yes?"

"Well, you wanted to know." He moved away and sat down in the chair.

"Who are you looking for?" Shelly asked.

"A particular man." Tabby replied.

Parker meanwhile wasn't paying attention, she was still looking at Eliot. "So you and Tabby are sleeping together?"

Hardison almost choked on his coffee, Shelly threw her an amused glance, Tabby shot a nervous look round at everyone.

Eliot merely raised his eyebrows and replied. "Well done, Einstein." Parker threw him an aggrieved scowl. "Seen him yet, Tabby?"

Hardison got over his choking fit. "Err…Ok….Um…Tell me if you want to zoom in anywhere"

Tabby returned her embarrassed gaze to the screen, she didn't quite know what she'd expected, but it hadn't been that! Then she saw him.

"There, stop Hardison. There, him. He spoke to me, he asked me to go over to the booth."

"Oh, him." Eliot growled sourly. He'd not liked the look of this guy. "I remember him."

"I wanted to see if he was watching while I danced, he was." She hated sitting here going through the tapes, she tried to pretend it wasn't her, the others were very good about it, they just reacted as if they couldn't see. It then occurred to her that Shelly had never seen them and was now sitting watching her cavort naked on the big screen. She swallowed hard and carried on. "Can you do a search on him, Hardison?"

"Sure thing." Hardison set about transferring the image to his identification programme. "You want to see more?"

"Can we see when I went to the booth? I think the men with him were bodyguards."

"I would guess so." Eliot observed. "They had that distinctive air about them, sort of sullen and superior."

"Is that how a hitter is supposed to look?" Shelly enquired in amusement. He seemed to find a great many things amusing, Tabby thought with an inward smile.

"They're not hitters, they are….hired thugs." Eliot retorted. "A hitter has to have a brain too."

"Too many punches and it will start to fade." Hardison taunted gleefully. Eliot turned in immediate annoyance, they hadn't bickered in this way for a long time, the disagreements had all been so….serious. This was shaping up to be one of the 'I'm not gonna back down' irrelevant spats.

"What would you know about it? Since when were you ever likely to get hit?" Eliot snapped belligerently.

"I ride zip lines, I've been hit, I can take it." Hardison began.

It was at this point Tabby realised quite how well Shelly fit in here, how observant he was and how well he knew them both. He put his arm round Tabby's shoulders and murmured in her ear. "Distraction tactics."

Her immediate instinct had been to pull away, but at his words she stayed still.

"So what did he talk about when you went to the booth?" He enquired innocently of Tabby. He moved closer to her ear. "You smell lovely, but did you know you still have a little maple syrup in your hair?"

Tabby turned horrified eyes on him, he _knew!_ How the blazes could he know something like that?

Eliot instantly forgot about rowing with Hardison and turned his glare onto Shelly.

Shelly returned the glare with a look of wide-eyed amusement.

"He asked me a lot of questions." Tabby managed to answer the question without, hopefully, giving away her shock at what he'd just said. She glanced at Eliot, who was still subjecting Shelly to a forceful scowl. Point made, Shelly removed his arm.

"What about?" Eliot demanded.

Tabby thought about it for a second, she wanted to make her point clearly. "A lot of men talk, and ask questions, but he was a bit…..intense. He wanted to know where I was from, and what my family thought about me being a stripper. I didn't think about it at the time, but it seems an odd thing to ask." She paused for a second. "It was the sort of thing a preacher would ask!"

"Like a 'save you soul' type? Social worker, do-gooder sort of thing?" Parker interjected.

"Exactly." Tabby was glad that Parker at least 'got it.' "But the odd thing was that he really wasn't that sort of person. He wanted me to think he was, but he was much too…interested in me as a female, as a sex object." She glanced sideways at the three men. "He was most definitely turned on by what he was seeing." She caught Eliot's furious scowl. "Don't look like that! I can't help it, I was wearing my 'Daisy Dukes' which probably made it worse." She retorted defensively. "That is why men go to strip clubs, to look, to drool. Given half a chance they would touch, and ask to be touched, and pay well for it."

"The signs tell them not to touch!" Eliot spat angrily.

They were all now regarding her in an appalled fashion.

"Oh yeah, and everyone takes notice." Tabby retorted scathingly. "Parker, you won't know, but I'll bet you guys do! Some of the things I've seen in the sleazier clubs verge on assault. And in some cases the security guys are the worst offenders. They think it gives them licence to grope." She raised her eyebrows at Eliot. "Why the Hell do you think I hate this?" She suddenly snapped her eyes back to the screen. "I've just remembered, he asked me my dress size. How weird is that?"

The atmosphere in the room had become strained over the last few moments, the 'ping' from the facial recognition screen was very welcomed.

"Here's your man." Hardison drawled. "Drake McClure; From North Carolina, new money, father built up a big construction business in the eighties and nineties. Now Drake McClure is in charge."

Drake. Yes, that was his name, he had told her, Tabby now remembered. She felt a bit silly for having forgotten, but so much else had happened last night, a great deal of which was irrelevant to this job!

Hardison was now looking puzzled. "There is a great deal of money, the business is still going and being run by managers. McClure seems to be living a bit of a playboy life. He has properties in Carolina and Florida. So what is he doing in a small time strip club in Portland?"

"Anything suspicious in the financials?" Parker asked.

"Not obviously. But he does seem to have off shore accounts, and there seem to be a few small companies with no real….purpose. What does Cliff Space sound like to you?"

"A holiday firm? Holiday apartments maybe?" Tabby surmised.

"If they are, we have no indication of where they might be."

"So why is he in the club?" Eliot growled, he was still feeling a bit sore at the 'security guy' jibe. "Is this relevant at all?" Tabby just couldn't answer that, but as she studied his picture she couldn't shake that…..feeling. "Have you seen him before last night?"

"No. Last night was the first time he'd spoken to me." She thought about it for a second. "Hardison, can we look back at last week, before I went there, or even back to when Alicia was still there!" Suddenly that seemed an obvious idea.

"Girl, I'm good, but I'm not _that_ good." Hardison admonished. "I can go back a week or so, but even I can't hack tapes which have been taped over. Sorry, girl, they re-use every two weeks or so."

Tabby felt deflated, she was so sure this man was involved, and if they could prove he'd met Alicia it would really be a leap forward.

"You're sure there were no older tapes in the office?" Eliot asked Parker.

"Not that I saw, but I wasn't really looking for them. Can you look tonight? It won't take many seconds if you are only after one thing."

Tabby was still thinking about the questions he had asked her, no-one had asked her if she had replied, and she had! At the time it had seemed odd, but irrelevant, why should he want to know her dress size? And the family questions, she had told him she had no family, she'd not gone into details. But now she was wondering, had that been a mistake? He knew she was alone. She had talked to several men last night and answered a lot of questions, mostly with lies and stories of Kirsten Cooper. It was hard to remember where the lies had begun and the truth had stopped, hard to remember who she had told what, exactly.

"Maybe he'll come back tonight. Then I can ask him a few questions." She observed in frustration.

"I'm not so sure about that." Eliot growled. "I don't know if you should go back tonight, I didn't like the look of him. You need to be careful."

"Of course I must go back, and I'm always careful." Did he really think she was such a lamb to the slaughter? She'd learned a lot during her life as a stripper, and even more since she'd met these guys, she was well on her way to being an ace liar, a con artist in the making!

They kicked the disparate facts around for a little longer, but there was a limit to how much good it was going to do.

"Without something more we are at a brick wall." Hardison stated.

"Then find something!" Eliot snarled.

"We're trying!" Hardison snapped back. "How about you find something?"

The impending scrap was as pointless as it was depressing. Parker and Shelly exchanged glances and Parker stepped in to stop it.

"Enough, guys. Let's go down and get something to eat, we can sit in the corner and still talk this over, or not. Maybe an hour or two away from it will help."

"And maybe not!" Eliot flashed. "What about plan M!"

"We can't work at each other's throats." Hardison threw a grateful glance at Parker. He might bicker with Eliot but he didn't want to fall out with him, they were friends in a way he'd never had a friend before. If things got too bad Eliot might walk out for good and he didn't want that. The Plan M threat always made him twitchy!

"What's Plan M?" Tabby enquired.

The other three looked at each other, Eliot still stared at the screen. Even Shelly was party to this one. "Hardison dies in Plan M." He stated dryly. "Come on, time for some food."

They trooped down to the restaurant. Hardison was fretting about the lack of progress. He knew that Eliot was very stressed about this job, he surmised it was because of Tabby. He really cared about this girl and he hated what she had to do, hated the idea of her being in danger.

They sat down in booth six.

"Look, I've put traces on Drake McClure, Travis Houston and Kyle Absalom. I've got all the bank accounts covered, all the companies, even the ones which may not be connected. Anything which has ever been connected to them is under consideration. I can't _do_ any more." He regarded Eliot and Tabby a bit desperately. "So hacking isn't helping, it will have to be on the ground. Is there anything _I_ can do on the ground?"

Eliot scowled at him, recognising the olive branch. It truly wasn't Hardison's fault. He knew he was being unreasonably twitchy, but he couldn't help feeling this whole affair was somehow ….skewed. They were missing a very important point. If they didn't soon get a break they would be screwed, not skewed!

Hardison continued. "Do you want me to come in tonight as a punter?"

"No." Shelly interrupted. "I will do that. You need to stay on the coms."

"What about me?" Parker protested. "Can't I come in and do lifts or something?"

"No, Parker." Eliot sighed. "It's the girls who are vulnerable, girls don't come to bars like this one. You would be too obvious, I can't be looking two ways at once. I think Shelly is right, he can come in. Hardison, you need to keep on the surveillance. What if you get the vital hit when you aren't there?"

"I can look after myself." Parker retorted hotly.

"Especially if there are forks around!" Eliot retorted. "Humour me for once, Parker."

Tabby looked from one to the other. "Forks?"

Hardison chuckled. "Parker once stabbed a mark with a fork."

"He was getting too personal." Parker returned with a shrug.

Food and coffee did ease the tension a little, and they agreed to give it a rest for a couple of hours. Shelly took his leave, intending to visit the club that evening, the others trooped back upstairs to watch a film.

Tabby was feeling a little unsettled, as if she hadn't been that way for days! She was still a bit uncertain about how she should behave now things between her and Eliot had….changed. It seemed very odd to her that the others just accepted it with no comment. She sat down on one of the chairs while Hardison flicked through the movies. He selected something hi-tech and full of fighting, Tabby wasn't worried what it was, she was tired and she didn't think she would concentrate well on anything high-brow.

Eliot sat on the sofa. "Hey Kitten. Come over here." He patted the sofa beside him. She hesitated for a second, the look he gave her was a mixture of amusement and reproach, he raised his eyebrows slightly, she gave in and moved. As soon as she sat down he pulled her closer and put his arms around her shoulders. "Ah, better." He murmured in her ear and dropped a kiss on her temple.

The look Parker gave them was, frankly, rather smug. She plonked down and wriggled into the gap left between Tabby and Hardison. "This is cosy." She remarked brightly.

Half an hour later Parker wriggled out of the gap again. "Popcorn." She decided. She looked down at Tabby. "Hey, Eliot, Tabby's asleep."

Eliot blinked, he'd not noticed, he was pretty damned tired himself. He peered down at her, she wasn't just dozing, she was out for the count. He shifted his arm and eased her across his lap and got up. She murmured and buried her face in his neck.

"Open the door for me, Parker."

With no more ado he took her to his room and laid her carefully on the bed. She didn't stir.

"I'm gonna stay with her." He gave Parker a nod. "If we haven't appeared by six, come and bang on the door."

"You got it." Parker returned to the sofa. "What do you think of that?" She enquired of Hardison.

"You were the one who said she was good for Eliot." Hardison returned. "She's a nice girl, I just hope no-one gets hurt." He turned his attention back to the screen, but Parker had other ideas now.

"They've gone to bed. Maybe we should too?" She looked at Hardison and cocked her head to one side, all wide eyed innocence.

Hardison was taken aback for a second. "Girl, they've gone to sleep, not…"

"Poo, she might sleep for a while, but you know Eliot." She grinned at him again. "How about it?"

It took Hardison only two more seconds to realise she was serious, a big grin split his face. "Oh yeah! That's my girl." Parker bounced off the sofa and skipped along the hallway to their room at the end. Hardison wasted no more time in following.

Eliot watched her for a few moments, then he kicked off his shoes and climbed on to the bed beside her. Sleeping with Tabby, dressed or not, just seemed like a nice idea. He lay close to her and watched her sleep, he seemed to have done a lot of that over the last week, he couldn't remember ever having enjoyed watching a girl sleep before. Within twenty minutes he was asleep too.

He awoke around fifteen minutes before six, Tabby was still sleeping and somehow she was now snuggled in his arms, he didn't remember how she got there, but he was just happy that she was. It felt …right. Everything about this felt right if only he didn't look to the future!

A few moments later Tabby stirred and woke. He didn't think he'd actually done anything to wake her, but then again, if lying there and getting turned on by thinking about her could do it, he'd done it!

"Hi Kitten. " He breathed in her hair. "Nice sleep?"

"Mmmm, yeah." Tabby murmured. She felt….safe and warm and comfortable. He browsed gently along her temple and down to her neck where he pressed a kiss behind her ear. He slid his hands up to cup her face and stroked his thumbs gently across her cheeks. Then he captured her mouth and kissed her softly, or at least, that was how it started. Within minutes he was sliding his hands over her body.

"Man, you make me so hot." He growled in her ear.

Tabby was a little taken aback, she was still half asleep. This wasn't, as far as she was concerned, private. It was bad enough that she was alone, sleeping with Eliot in his room while the others were just outside. This 'relationship', or whatever it might be, was very new and she didn't feel comfortable with the idea of disappearing to have sex in the middle of the afternoon while the others were…even there! Maybe that was just the sort of thing Eliot did! But it wasn't what she did!

"Eliot, no."

"No? What do you mean no?" He sounded both surprised and annoyed.

"I mean not now, I don't want to do this now."

"Oh, come on. In a few minutes you will be just as hot as I am. Come on, honey." He nibbled suggestively at her ear and slid his hand into her bra to squeeze her nipple. She gasped in reaction.

"Stop it, please."

"What's the matter?" He growled.

"I don't…..I can't….." Tabby struggled with the words. "I don't really mean I don't want to, but…what if someone comes? It's getting late, I just don't feel…right."

Eliot pulled away with a frustrated sigh. "I suppose you're right. I'll just have to wait till later, won't I?" Tabby slipped off the bed feeling ….tearful. So it wasn't exactly their first row, as disagreements went it paled into insignificance compared to the one they'd had in the rain. But this was….personal, and it hurt in a different way.

"Eliot…" She began. He wasn't facing her and he raised his hand sharply to forestall her comment. She lapsed to silence, he just wasn't going to talk about this. She should have known, he _didn't_ talk. She, on the other hand, liked to get things clear; she didn't talk to strangers, but when she had opened up to someone the way she had to Eliot, she wanted to be sure he understood her. She wasn't rejecting him, it was just bad timing, and she was so new to all this; was she honestly just supposed to turn feelings on and off like a tap? How did they go from nothing to 'sex at any time of the day or night' in less than twenty four hours? It was all so out of her experience that it made her…..jumpy and embarrassed.

She moved to the door. "I'm going for a shower." Eliot's only reaction was a curt nod.

Tabby retreated to the bathroom to get ready for work leaving Eliot to use the small en-suite in his room. She put on her basic make-up and dressed ready to work the bar, nothing too risqué, no-one had complained, as long as she danced well no-one was that bothered.

When she went back to the main office and living area Eliot was already there, and he was prowling the room like a caged tiger. She knew he was tense. He had wanted so badly to make love to her, but the fact that Hardison and Parker were just next door had just made the idea… difficult. Parker might have chosen to bang on the door at any time, and Tabby knew she wouldn't be able to relax.

Hardison was seated at the computer and was eyeing him with concern. "Eliot…."

"Shut up, dammit!"

"I'm ready." Tabby ventured.

Parker jumped up to collect the car keys.

As Tabby moved towards the door Eliot stopped her. "Tabby, I don't like this, I've got a bad feeling about this."

"I don't like it either, but it's the only way we will find out." Tabby stated firmly, she was trying her damnedest not to display emotion here, but she was close to tears, and the job had nothing to do with it.

Eliot closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose with a growl of frustration. Then he took her completely by surprise. He stepped forward, caught her by the shoulders, pulled her into his arms and kissed her. It wasn't a long, prelude-to-sex type kiss, but it was far more than a swift peck. He kissed her like it mattered. She was fairly certain that Eliot was not often given to public shows of affection.

When he released her he murmured. "Sorry about earlier. I was being….a jerk. Be careful." Then he turned away.

Parker was waiting by the door, Tabby went.

Hardison regarded Eliot, trying not to display the sympathy he knew would be resented. "Look, man. If nothing more comes of tonight we'll think of something else. She doesn't need to go back there anymore."

Eliot shot him a look which was a mixture of despair, fury and frustration. "Yeah! You just try telling _her_ that!" He stamped off to put on his work suit.


	15. Chapter 15

Please let me know if this is going down well!

* * *

Chapter 15

With everyone else on the way to the club, Hardison sat rather dejectedly before the screens. He was turning the latest development over in his mind. Eliot slept with girls. Fact of life, Eliot slept with rather a lot of girls! But this time it looked as if he might have met his match, literally. The fact that he couldn't or wouldn't either dismiss or ignore her, and that he felt he couldn't control her, spoke volumes!

He flicked through the information before him for the hundredth time just hoping he might spot something relevant. The club was almost empty, the phones were dead, no-one was moving. He flicked through the surveillance cameras and realised the camera Eliot had planted in Houston's office wasn't working. When he thought about it the most likely cause was Parker! She had turned the place over, swiftly, she had probably dislodged the tiny instrument. He would need to tell Eliot, possibly he could get in tonight and replace it, hopefully Houston wouldn't find it and wonder where it had come from! Not only that, the club's own car parking monitor wasn't working either, the place was going to the dogs!

Suddenly he got a reaction from his computer. Excitedly he brought the information onto the screen. There it was, a large deposit of money into the offshore account of Travis Houston. $50,000 into the Caymen Islands account.

Now he had to follow this back, he needed to know from whom and from where, and then he might be able to work out why! It may be nothing to do with this affair, but the source was not obvious, and that was suspicious. After fifteen minutes he lost the trail in the Middle East. Undeterred he continued to search, his entire concentration centred on the task.

He missed something important!

* * *

Parker dropped Tabby off and she walked into the club. Since she was an early arrival today she may be able to go home around midnight, which would suit her just fine. There were very few people here yet, it was mid-week and they didn't get much of an early crowd the way it was at a weekend. There were three expensive vehicles in the parking lot along with a couple of normal cars. She knew one was Travis Houston, another was Absalom.

She walked past the office. Travis Houston came out as she passed.

"Ah, Kirsten, could you step in for a moment, I have a few things I want to discuss with you."

Tabby was a little surprised, but she walked in to the office. Seated in the comfortable chair by the window was the man from last night, Drake McClure.

Tabby was instantly uneasy, all the hairs on the back of her neck stood up, it was very unpleasant.

McClure looked her up and down with a critical eye. "Yes, she's the one." He got up from his seat. "I have a job proposal for you….Anastasia?" He questioned shortly.

"That is my stage name. My name is Kirsten." She answered boldly, she didn't feel bold, but she had to maintain her confident front.

"Kirsten. Yes, I like it." He caught her chin with hard fingers and pushed her head up to study her face. "You will come and work for me."

Tabby tried to step back, but he gripped tighter, it was uncomfortable. "Oh." She shot her eyes to Travis Houston. "But….."

"You'll be moving to California, we'll be leaving soon."

"But…..I can't just leave, I need to pack, I need my things." Tabby protested rather breathlessly, hopefully Hardison was getting this on the camera because she'd not put her ear bud in, and he and Eliot certainly were not hearing her. "Why do we need to go now? How do I know I want this job, and that I want to come?" She hesitated, frantically trying to think how she would really behave if she was a working girl. "Does it pay well?"

Drake McClure narrowed his eyes. He didn't seem to like the questions. "You will have everything you need. There is no need to take anything with you, it will all be provided. Very highest quality and exactly what we want to see."

"Provided?" Tabby took a step away. "What sort of job?" Had this been what had happened to the others? They had been made job offers too good to refuse? What if _she_ refused?

"Acting as hostess for me." McClure returned smoothly. "Entertaining my customers."

Tabby instantly had very little doubt what the entertaining would involve! "I would like to collect my things." She insisted.

"No, there is no time for you to do that, we are leaving, now."

Tabby took a step back. "I don't want to, not without my things." What she desperately needed to do was speak to Eliot, or at least Hardison, about this. With no ear bud they wouldn't know what was happening. She didn't know if Eliot was here yet, but she fervently hoped he was! She took another step back and bumped into Travis Houston who had now moved behind her.

"You're not going to be silly about this, are you Kirsten?" he questioned softly.

Silly? No, she was going to be pretty damned difficult given any rope at all!

"I'm leaving!" She stated shrilly, but as she spun to leave he grabbed her arm and punched the intercom. She pulled back against him in fear as he spoke loudly at the intercom.

"Kyle, in here."

Not for nothing had Eliot been giving her self-defence instruction. She slammed her elbow back into Houston and stamped down onto his shin at the same time. He released her with a howl of pain. She bolted for the door. Little good it did her, McClure headed her off and Absalom grabbed her from behind. As she attempted to lash out she felt a sharp pain in her arm and almost immediately the world began to go fuzzy and black around the edges, the room spun, and that was it.

She had no memory of being thrown over Absalom's shoulder, of being taken out of the rear door, of being bundled into the back of Drake McClure's SUV and being driven away in the fading daylight.

* * *

Eliot pulled in to the parking lot, he'd detoured to the grocery store on the way here, he wanted to have something nice for Tabby to eat this evening. He knew he was being very inconsistent in the way he was behaving towards Tabby, and he could hardly blame her for being confused. He hadn't meant to get annoyed with her this afternoon, truthfully, he'd been angry with himself, but he'd projected it at her. Dammit, he'd behaved like a real jerk, she must be thinking he was only interested in sex!

It was twilight, a couple of his co-workers had just pulled in, he could see Houston's car here already, that was unusual, normally he didn't arrived until later.

Eliot went in through the front entrance, Tabby didn't seem to have her ear-bud in, and she'd not answered his call a short while ago. He hoped she wasn't ignoring him, she'd not seemed too huffy when she'd left, but if she was he couldn't blame her. He grabbed the first girl he met and asked her to find Kirsten, he didn't like not knowing where she was, he'd got this uneasy feeling which was growing by the hour.

The girl returned five minutes later, Eliot had seen her a couple of times, he didn't know her name. It drifted across his mind that six weeks ago he would have known all their names, now he didn't care! He was concerned for their welfare, but he just wasn't interested in them as girls. This girl did not have the news he wanted to hear.

"She's not here yet."

"Not here?" Eliot exploded. "Of course she's here, she left for work half an hour before me!"

The girl backed off giving him a dubious look. "Well she's not, and it's not my fault. Don't shoot the messenger!" She cocked her head sideways "Are you dating Kirsten? Kareena won't like that!"

"No…um…yes, whatever." Eliot blustered, "That's not the point. Where is she?"

"No idea." She returned sharply, and turned to head back to the changing room.

Eliot stood fuming, he shouldn't have snapped at her, it wasn't her fault, but now he was worried. Tabby should have been here, Parker had brought her. Maybe they had been held up? Parker wasn't on her ear-bud either, so he pulled out his phone, this time he got an answer.

"Hi Eliot, what…?"

"Where are you? Where is Tabby? Is she with you?"

"I'm nearly home, and I dropped her at work, of course."

Eliot hung up without explaining.

He headed back outside via the rear door, maybe she'd gone out in the fresh air for a bit. She'd been complaining about the stuffy atmosphere, she had so enjoyed the day in the hills, maybe she'd just wanted to be in the air. When they'd finished this damned job he would take her to the ranch in Oklahoma, she would love that.

It was virtually dark, Tabby was nowhere to be seen. He walked slowly down the steps, scanning the whole parking area.

Then he caught site of something at the bottom of the steps, it caught the light and gleamed just for a second. The moment he laid his hand on it he knew what it was, the brown bead and polished stone bracelet Tabby had been wearing. He'd bought it for her on their day out, it wasn't valuable but she liked the way it jangled. He thought the colours suited her name, like a Tabby cat.

He snatched the phone to call Hardison, only to find that Hardison was calling him.

"Hardison, Tabby…"

"Eliot listen, man! Parker just got home, told me you called. I was following some financial link. I wasn't watching, I missed it."

"Missed what?" Eliot snarled. Hardison was sounding frantic, not just apologetic.

"The camera in the office isn't working, she must have been in there and I didn't see her go in. Then I didn't see them come out, not till I replayed the footage for the last forty minutes or so. They took her, Eliot!"

Which only confirmed what he'd already suspected.

"Ear-buds." He snarled. Within minutes they were all on the ear-buds.

"Tabby's not answering." Hardison muttered. "I'll try her cell."

"You think I haven't?" Eliot raged. "I can't _believe_ I've lost her! I'm supposed to keep her safe. I _promised_ I'd keep her safe."

"Calm down." Parker ordered. "GPS, Hardison." Just sometimes she was the voice of reason.

"I'm already on it." Hardison retorted. "I've got it. It's … nowhere in particular and it's stationary." He gave Eliot the co-ordinates and he was into his truck and off in pursuit.

"Who took her?" He growled at Hardison.

"I think it was Absalom who was carrying her, Houston was with him."

"Both their cars are still in the parking lot." Eliot snarled.

Finally he reached the location, about three miles from the club, in the street. It was fully dark.

"Where?" He demanded of Hardison.

"Right there."

"But I'm in the street."

"So it's in the street. Look for it."

If Eliot could have punched him, he would have!

He was so unprepared, it was pitch dark, he had no flashlight. In the end he used his phone as a light, poor though it was. Finally, after what seemed an age, he found it in pieces behind some trash cans. That was no comfort at all!

He put the phone back together and turned it on.

"Hey, it just came on." Hardison observed.

"That's because I put it together!" Eliot snarled. His temper was just below flashpoint, he was trying his best to hold things together but inane comments weren't helping! He punched the call list, the last call had been from his own phone, now nearly two hours ago. That call had most likely been the cause of the phone getting thrown out, probably from a still moving vehicle.

"So who has her? Where are they going? _Why?"_ Eliot questioned rather desperately.

"Eerr." Hardison was just reading the latest results from his frantic search of the financial situation. "Umm, Eliot, um…" Hardison really didn't know how to put this. "I think Travis Houston sold her."

"**_SOLD_**_ her_?" Eliot exploded.

"He received a payment of $50,000 dollars into his Caymen's account earlier this evening, I've been trying to track it, and I've got a final source…..Um….." He hesitated again.

Parker ploughed in, never one to hold back on the bad news, Eliot needed to know this! "He sold her to Drake McClure."

Eliot felt ill, she'd seen it, she'd warned them, he'd known it wasn't right, but still they had let her carry on, and now she was a prisoner! They'd failed her!

For a few seconds he stood irresolute on the sidewalk, fury warring with despair. Inevitably the fury won, he would get her back, whatever the cost. But he'd got to think now, he wasn't just the hitter, he'd taken on the role of her protector, but he was also planner and mastermind, a role they now shared. Not that he ever thought he could replace Nate, but they'd got by so far.

The vehicle had been heading north, so that was where he would go.

"Hardison, find me anything connected with McClure which is north of here, anything!"

"Ok." Hardison's fingers were flying over the keyboard. "Parker, you look for Houston."

Eliot got back into the truck and headed north, Hardison soon had some information.

"McClure uses a warehouse at the docks, he doesn't own it, he just has the use of space, no idea what for." Hardison relayed the address to Eliot.

"I'm on it." Eliot stamped on the accelerator, he felt marginally better now he had a goal.

"Wait, you'll need back up."

"No." Eliot was in no mood to be held back. "She trusted me to be there, I wasn't. I let her down. I'm going _now_." With that he removed the ear-bud.

"Eliot? Eliot!" Hardison tried fruitlessly. He was fairly sure he was now unheard.

Hardison flicked out his ear-bud and motioned Parker to do the same. "Now we have another problem. Not only have we lost Tabby, Eliot is in overdrive and running out of control. We need to move, we gotta do this mobile. Get what you need and meet me at Lucille. I'll call Shelly to meet us en-route."

Parker set off to grab her gear and Hardison punched the phone.

"Shelly?"

"Hi mate. How's it going?"

"Badly! Change of plan." Hardison outlined he latest development. He finished, "So Eliot is now running pretty much out of control. Can you cope?"

"With Eliot? Possibly, you have no idea how hard that can actually be! I'll head for the docks, keep me posted so I can meet you and pick up an ear bud."

* * *

It took Eliot maybe half an hour to reach the docks and he'd very soon found the warehouse in question, but there was just no-one about. There were a couple of trucks parked down on the waterfront, and there were any number of vehicles associated with the ships which were waiting at the dock. One ship was actually being unloaded a few hundred yards from the warehouse, but it appeared totally unrelated.

Now he wanted information, had there been any signs of movement he would have found a way into the warehouse, but it would be alarmed and he didn't want to set anything off if there was nothing to be seen. He replaced his ear bud.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Tabby felt awful, the dreadful sick feeling in her stomach was the first thing she was conscious of. The last time she'd felt this bad was after a friend's birthday party years ago, she'd drunk vastly too much for the first, and last, time!

She opened her eyes, just a crack, the light hurt. There was one bare bulb on the ceiling, it was very bright. She was lying on her back on a narrow bed and she had absolutely no clue about where she was and how she had got here. She shut her eyes to try to stop the room from spinning, and she tried to think.

What did she remember?

She remembered a great many things which were not relevant. She remembered she had made the mistake of sleeping with Eliot! Last night? She vaguely remembered going to work, was this still that night? Where was she?

Gradually the spinning ceased and she began to feel less sick, the fog receded slightly from her brain. She tried to follow recent events and put them in some sort of order.

She'd arrived at the office with Eliot this morning. He'd been so sweet. Since they'd been working on this job she'd seen a different side of him, she'd discovered just how volatile his temper really was, the man lived on a knife edge while he was working and he would fly at the slightest excuse. But today he'd been….different, and he'd gone out of his way to touch her. Just to touch her hand, or run his finger across her shoulder, or brush against her when he passed her. It had been lovely, a bit surreal, but lovely.

They had sat to watch a film and she had fallen asleep and ended up in Eliot's room with him. Then he had wanted to love her, and she had been too concerned about their situation to allow that. They'd not exactly fallen out but…his last words to her had been concern, not annoyance.

But all that was irrelevant to now. Parker had dropped her at work and…..she remembered going into the office, and Drake McClure offering her a job. Suddenly it came back. She'd tried to leave and they'd stopped her, she remembered the pain, she must have been drugged, they'd stuck a needle in her!

So was this what had happened to the others? To Alicia Cousins? But where the Hell was she and how was she going to tell the others? Had they seen her being grabbed? Had they let it happen and followed her captors?

She thought about that for a moment, it would have been a sensible thing to do, but she couldn't somehow see Eliot letting that happen!

She sat up and groped in her pocket, no cell phone; she wasn't surprised. She cast her eyes around the small room in despair; it was like a box, all metal with a lot of pipework. There was a bed, a chair and a small table. In the wall were what looked like built in cupboards. She got up and opened them; behind one door she found a wash basin and taps. The others were exactly as they looked; two cupboards and a hanging rail. They were all empty. Right up at ceiling level was a small square window which didn't appear to open. All she could see was a square of black sky. So it was still night.

She sat back on the bed feeling ten times a fool. She'd told Eliot she could look after herself, and look at her now. She'd proved him right, she'd been kidnapped. Did the team know yet?

Logically they must do, they would surely have seen it on the cameras. If they hadn't, Eliot would have missed her at work, at least when she didn't arrive on stage, even if he was otherwise engaged elsewhere! She registered that was an unkind thought, just because she'd caught him with Kareena didn't mean he would be doing the same thing this evening. Surely last night should have convinced her of that?

But she didn't know, she still kept telling herself she didn't know him. She wanted to trust him, to believe him, but his reputation was….. definitely against him! This was going to hurt her so badly, she mustn't allow herself to be seduced by the thought that Eliot was hers, he wasn't! She gave herself a mental shake. It was academic at present, and the least of her problems. He would come looking, that she could guarantee.

If only she'd had the sense to wear her ear-bud earlier….Her ear-bud! Good grief, had she still got it? Or had her captors found it? If they had found it they would know something was going on, it was hardly the sort of thing an average stripper carried on her person. She frantically searched her pockets and to her eternal relief she found it in the breast pocket of her jacket.

She slipped it into her ear and was overjoyed to hear Eliot and Hardison talking. Neither sounded at all happy.

"Hi guys." She whispered.

Eliot nearly flipped. "Tabby, honey! Where are you, what happened, are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, they didn't hurt me, but I'm a prisoner." She whispered softly. "I don't know if anyone might hear me."

"I'm tracking." Hardison cut in.

"Where are you? Did you see where they took you?" Eliot persisted.

"No, the office was the last thing I saw, then I woke up here, they drugged me, stuck a needle in my arm. Absalom drugged me."

"We think Drake McClure has you, Tabby." Hardison informed her.

"Are you locked in? Is it part of a warehouse?" Eliot was getting frantic; he wanted to get to her, immediately.

"No, it's a metal room, one very small window."

"Hardison, where is she? I need to get to her, now!"

"I can't…." Hardison began.

"No, Eliot. I need to stay here. I need to let them take me. You've got to follow, to find where I end up. McClure wants me to work as a hostess for him, that must be where the others are and we need to know. He said California."

"Tabby, this is not up for debate, I'm coming for you." Eliot snarled.

"No!" Tabby insisted. "We've come this far. We've got to go on."

"But…"

"Eliot!" Parker was suddenly in on the com too. "Tabby needs to do this; _she_ needs to do it, to do what's _right_. You know that. You've got to let her do it, you _know _that!"

"Dammit, Parker! I can't…..I won't ….I…._Dammit, Parker_!"Eliot snarled. Tabby felt a sudden rush of tears, she could see him in her mind, he would have his fists in his hair and be grinding his teeth in fury at the moment.

"We're in the docks area now." Hardison chimed in. "I can't get a fix, I think if it's all metal she could be on a ship."

"Tabby, sweetheart. I'm so sorry I let this happen." Eliot sounded very angry and upset.

"Not your fault. It was what we needed to happen, wasn't it?"

"Not like this!" He insisted.

Then she heard it, footsteps echoing in the metal corridor. "I gotta go, they're coming." She whipped the ear-bud out and stuffed it back in her breast pocket. Please God they wouldn't find it.

The lock clicked and the door swung open. It was a man she had never seen before, she'd been expecting one of the bodyguards from the other night. This man was similar, reasonably smart but very tough looking. He made her think of some of Eliot's friends she had seen at the restaurant, probably ex-military, McClure's security.

"Hi." She ventured.

He didn't respond, merely motioned her out of the door. A second man waited ahead and he directed her into a larger room, still all metal but more comfortable.

"Ah." Drake McClure awaited her. "I hope you are not finding your accommodation too uncomfortable? We will soon be leaving. But before that I expect you would like to freshen up and have some breakfast?"

She glanced at the clock on the wall, it stood a five-thirty, presumably in the morning.

"I would like to use the bathroom." She replied stiffly.

"Certainly. Would you like a shower? Clean clothes? Or would you like some breakfast first?"

Tabby stared at him in disbelief. He was acting as if she was a guest, not a prisoner.

"I would like to go home." She stated flatly.

"Oh no. You have a lovely new home and new friends waiting for you. We will have such a nice time, you will have everything you could possibly need, every luxury."

_Except freedom. And choice of who she was with, and probably a great many other restrictions too!_ Tabby thought frantically. No matter, the crew would follow her, this was what she needed to do. She stifled her words of protest.

"Please may I use the bathroom?" She requested again.

She was escorted to a utilitarian wash room, showers, no bath. To her relief she was left alone. Quickly she slipped in the ear-bud.

"We are leaving I guess in about an hour." She whispered.

"We'll be waiting." Hardison assured her.

"Be careful." Eliot admonished. His fury seemed to have subsided, now he just sounded pissed off, she was obviously being a dreadful nuisance.

* * *

Eliot was now sitting irresolutely in the shadow of a warehouse, watching the ships. Hardison had narrowed her location down to within a few hundred yards, he believed she was on a ship and that the metal was affecting the signal. He could be no more accurate than this and Eliot was terrified he would not be in the right place to see.

A vehicle pulled up on the far side of the warehouse, it wasn't Lucille. Eliot moved back into the shadows, but the figure that emerged was familiar, he stepped into the lighter area.

"Shelly. What are you doing?"

"Looking for you, pal, what else? Do we know where she is?"

Hardison had obviously filled him in already. "Not exactly, on a ship, we need to watch, she said they were moving in around thirty minutes now."

"She has an ear-bud?"

"Yeah, but she daren't leave it in, so it's a bit hit and miss."

"Got one for me?"

Eliot delved in his pocket and found a spare.

"You Ok, buddy?"

"What do you think?" Eliot snarled softly. "We know damn all about this. What do we know today that we didn't yesterday?"

"Some!" Hardison retaliated on the ear-bud. "We know they are taking girls to work in California, and we have Tabby to lead us there."

"Right! We don't know how far, we have no idea how many! We could be outnumbered by dozens, and above all we don't know _why_!"

"McClure wants to be a big shot and impress his customers and business partners, and there has to be some dirty business." Shelly replied softly. "Think Moreau and I think you might be onto the type."

Eliot stared at him. Damn it all if Shelly hadn't hit it in one. Moreau was languishing in jail, but this guy was cast from the same mould, and if they didn't piss on his fireworks damned quick he could end up just as powerful.

"What do you know about Damien Moreau?" Hardison questioned.

"I know you took him down, I know he was a bastard, I worked for him once, way back, but I got injured and I spent several months off the streets. By the time I was back in the game I could see where Moreau was headed, so I stayed well away"

"When Eliot was there?" Parker asked the question that was hanging in the air.

Eliot turned to look at Shelly, who returned the gaze without flinching. "We started together, but I only lasted a week or two before I got hurt. By the time the writing was on the wall getting away from Moreau wasn't simple. I got lucky. When we started Moreau was no more than this man. So we need to act."

The other three were silent for a second, all pretty stunned by Shelly's sudden leap into the limelight. He just stepped into the crew as if he was born to it!

"Tabby's in danger here!" Eliot ground out.

"So we follow and get her out! That's what we do! What we always do!" Parker snapped.

"Look Eliot. Even if Shelly has the truth of this, it's no different to Parker being trapped by the Sterenco, or Flores in the Tombs in San Lorenzo. We find a way in and we get her out." Hardison tried his best to sound reasonable, although he knew it wouldn't really work. Eliot was a whole lot more invested in this than he had been either of the other rescues, and he could never have been accused of not giving his all in either case! This time it had become very, very…personal. "She is somewhere in a quarter mile radius of where you are, between you and Shelly you will see when they move. Then we follow. You know she wants to go through with this."

"But I don't…." Eliot began

"NO, Eliot!" Parker interrupted. "If you care about her you have got to let her do this, she needs to breathe, she wants to do it."

"So we follow and we don't lose her." Hardison insisted.

"But what if they hurt her before they get there?" Eliot snarled. Hurt wasn't exactly what he was thinking, rape was in his mind.

Shelly knew his friend pretty well, "If that was on the cards, it probably would have happened already. She said she was Ok. I don't think they will damage the goods till they get to their final destination."

Eliot ground his teeth in fury. He felt so….impotent. He couldn't help her when it really mattered, none of these guys knew what he knew about Tabby and her inexperience of sex. If rape was attempted she would fight, and fight hard, she would be hurt, in more ways than one!

* * *

Tabby had eaten breakfast, she decided there was no point in making herself ill. She declined the offer of clothes and a shower, she wanted to hang on to her jacket, along with the ear-bud.

"No matter." McClure announced smoothly. "You will have everything you need at the Villa."

Villa? He made it sound as if she was off on a wonderful holiday! He was a man she could never like, she'd been instantly struck by his resemblance to her mother's second husband. He was smooth, charming and utterly unpleasant underneath. Ruthless and slimy, and probably cruel with it, Tabby was already certain his crimes far exceeded this one that they were investigating!

She was escorted by McClure and three security men from what she now realised was a ship. She tried to look around as they left, but she was hustled quickly into a large car with blacked out windows, she saw no-one.

The car sped off in the growing dawn light. Within the hour they had reached a small, private airstrip where a plane awaited. It was ready to leave, and they merely mounted the steps, took their seats and they were in the air. Tabby still had no idea where they were and where they were going.

* * *

Eliot and Shelly had been located at either end of the dock, Eliot saw them appear and get into the car. Even though he desperately wanted to get her back right there and then, he had realised the impossibility of the task. Parker was right, Tabby wanted to do this and she wouldn't thank him for stopping her. As it happened he was too far from the vehicle and the ship to have made any effective move.

Hardison tracked the ear-bud, it was on, but not in her ear, at least he had a signal of sorts. Eliot and Shelly bolted for Shelly's car and left the truck behind, speed was what mattered now.

Shelly and Eliot arrived at the airstrip in time to see the plane lifting into the sky.

Eliot couldn't remember when he'd last felt so useless or so….desperate! But there was worse to come.

Lucille screeched into view a few moments later, and Hardison bounced from the rear.

"So where are they at? In the building? Getting ready to fly?"

"They've gone." Eliot snarled.

"Gone? What do you mean gone? The ear-bud is still here." He recoiled from Eliot who stepped threateningly at him, fists clenched. Shelly stepped between them.

"A small plane took off as we pulled up. The car is over there. Two men stood watching it take off. We think they were on board. The ear-bud might be here, but Tabby is not. Track the plane."

Hardison stepped back and bolted into the rear of Lucille to do just that. Within moments he had found what he needed, a flight plan logged from this airstrip. "The good news is they are heading for Northern California, Del Norte County airport which serves Crescent City. I will hack what I can, but we need to move. It's a seven hour drive and we need to take Lucille. What will you guys do? Come with us, take the car or try to get a plane?"

Eliot didn't want a plane, he wanted a teleporter, now!

"Can we get a plane?" He growled at Shelly.

"Truthfully? Maybe, I could try to call in a few favours, but I don't think we can honestly do it fast enough to be any quicker than driving. If we can avoid the traffic cops we could drive it in maybe under six hours, a flight would take a couple and organising it could take a while."

"Let's drive." Eliot growled. "Now!"

They ran for the car, any conversation could be done either on the ear-buds or on the mobiles, they needed to get moving.

Shelly hit the driving seat ahead of Eliot. "Did you sleep last night?"

"No" Eliot retorted shortly.

"Ok, I'll drive, you sleep. Get on with it."

"Take a left here." Eliot ordered. "We need to head down the coast road."

"I do know the way out of Portland, and the coast road is obviously the way to go!" Shelly retaliated.

Eliot persisted, giving directions and exhorting Shelly to speed up.

Shelly went where directed, not that he'd intended to do anything different, but avoided excessive speeding, getting stopped wouldn't help one bit. Fifteen minutes later they hit the coast road.

"Now, shut up and sleep."

"I'm fine."

"So when did you last sleep?"

"Yesterday afternoon."

"Yeah, right. A couple of hours. And the night before? Not long from what I can imagine!" Eliot glared at him. "Stop being an idiot, if you sleep you'll be a Hell of a lot more use to Tabby when we get there."

"I told you, I'm fine." He growled. Two seconds later he was flat on his back in the passenger seat as Shelly hit the recline button. "_Dammit, Shelly_!"

_"Dammit Eliot!"_ Shelly mimicked. "Stay there! Go to sleep, or at least pretend to sleep, or do you want me to punch you to put out your lights?"

"**OK**! I'm trying." Eliot determinedly closed his eyes, convinced it was hopeless. Ten minutes later he was asleep.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The drive along the coast road took around five hours, Shelly pushed it when he felt he could, to his eternal relief, Eliot slept a good deal of the way, he was obviously wiped out and needed the rest. Hardison had relayed information about the plane journey to him at the start of the drive, Shelly had then requested quiet unless really necessary, he knew Eliot was still wearing the ear bud and he wanted him to rest as much as was possible. About an hour from their destination Eliot woke, and was instantly annoyed that Shelly had allowed him to sleep.

"Why didn't you wake me?"

"Why did I need to wake you? I've been driving, nothing else has happened, Hardison and Parker are following and there is no news. Our next task is to find the airport, which isn't hard because it's public but small. I've not spoken to Hardison because either he or Parker may also be sleeping."

"I'm not sleeping, I'm driving." Parker announced. "Hardison is asleep, you want me to wake him?"

"We will soon be there, I guess we need his input." Shelly agreed.

"Yeah, wake him." Eliot growled. "He needs to tell us if anything is happening."

"True, but since we were only driving we could have done nothing, so he was right to rest." Shelly retaliated. "Now we need him awake and looking."

Five minutes later Hardison was back on the coms, sounding about as rested as they all did!

* * *

Eliot and Shelly arrived at the small airport and pulled into the public car park across from the private plane hangars.

All was quiet, the plane had touched down here at least four hours ago and was probably well out of site in the hanger. Certainly the planes sitting on the field did not include the one they had seen take off. There were a couple of people who looked as if they were about to fly one of the planes, possibly a flying lesson.

"We need to get in the hanger." Shelly observed. "Several cars about, must be maintenance men in there."

Eliot cast his eyes to the rear of the car, Shelly wasn't exactly messy, not the way Hurley had been in his car, but he did have rather a lot of spare stuff in the rear seat. Good thing too! He jumped out and rummaged through the pile, coming up with a grey shirt and a padded jacket. He then located a peaked cap and finally snagged Shelly's spare sunglasses.

"What the Hell are you doing?" Shelly questioned.

"Adapting. Disguise. I'm gonna be an anorak."

He mussed his hair and pulled the cap on, donning the glasses and the jacket too. The result looked slightly overweight and scruffy!

"A what?" Shelly was bemused.

"An anorak! A plane spotter, a plane geek, whatever!" With that he was off across the roadway to the hanger.

Hardison intervened on the ear-bud. "What's he doing?"

"He's gone." Shelly observed. "If I try to stop him it will be more obvious than letting him go!"

"Son-of-a…! Eliot! Why can't you wait?"

"For what? For the grifter we don't have? I'm adapting. I'm on it." Eliot snarled.

No-one challenged him as he crossed the area behind the hanger, security here didn't appear to be an issue.

Eliot sidled into the hanger, trying to look furtive but unthreatening. "Hey, man. Can I look at the planes?" The mechanic to whom he spoke looked up in surprise.

"Hey. You shouldn't be in here! Did you go to the office?"

"No. I only want to look around, I won't touch. They look so cool. I've always wanted to fly one. Is it easy?" Gone was the usual gravel growl, replaced by a nasally whine. The whole sentence was….breathless and apologetic. About as far from threatening as was possible, and so un-Eliot that Shelly was astounded. He'd heard Eliot in any number of situations, commanding, intimidating, persuasive, and authoritative, but never had he sounded so….ineffectual.

"Flying takes a lot of training, taking off and landing mostly." The mechanic conceded. Eliot ambled up the hanger, the man followed him, trying to head him off. "You shouldn't be in here."

"Oh, go on. Just let me look around." He spied the plane they'd seen in Portland, his spirits leapt in relief. "I like that one!" He made a bee-line for the plane. "How fast does it go, how far does it fly in one go? Does he have to stop for fuel?"

"Not today he didn't, he's just flown from Portland."

"Oh, that's so cool!" Eliot enthused sycophantically. He caught the barely supressed snort of mirth from Shelly, he tried his level best to ignore it and ploughed on. "Hey, man. I've always wanted one of these." He schooled his voice into a sort of envious whine. "So cool, get it painted in your own colours n'all. Why does a guy who has his own plane not have his own airstrip? Surely he's rich enough for that?"

"Oh sure he is, got a huge place down the coast a' ways, he's doing it up. He told me he got big fences and razor wire to keep out the unwanteds." The mechanic volunteered. "I reckon he might put in his own strip when he's done with fixing up the house."

"Wow!" Eliot breathed, making a very good job of sounding awestruck. "Wish I knew someone like that." He could hear Shelly spluttering as he tried to control his laughter, and it wasn't helped when Parker chimed in with a muffled squeak of "Eliot!"

"Huh, fat chance for you and me with a guy like him! Surrounded by beautiful women and bodyguards." The mechanic sighed. "Chance would be a fine thing."

"I suppose I'd better let you get back to work." Eliot mused rather sadly. "Thanks for letting me look." He wandered off in a rather absent way, still staring at the planes. As soon as he was out of earshot he hissed. "Will you two idiots just _shut the fuck up_?"

They didn't, they both roared with laughter. "Gee, Eliot, I didn't know you could do that!" Shelly guffawed loudly in his ear.

"I've had to hear plenty of geek-speak, it's not that hard." He growled.

"Hey! Do you mind?" Hardison sounded affronted.

"The Com-Con! Not just you and the Star trek crap." Eliot returned.

"Star Wars!" Hardison insisted.

"Whatever! Did you hear it, Hardison? Get on it, huge house down the coast road, probably a way off the road if he's got space for an airstrip. Big fences and razor wire. Find it!"

"I'm on it, but there's plenty of big properties that way, you may do better on the ground, we'll still be an hour yet, Lucille ain't that speedy." Hardison returned.

Eliot gave a grunt of assent.

* * *

It was now early afternoon, Eliot and Shelly headed back onto the coast road to hunt for the house. It was like a needle in a haystack, some of the houses were set miles back off the road and they had no real idea what they were looking for. Eliot was now driving, Shelly had decided he couldn't take any more back seat driving. Eliot was so wired he couldn't stop berating Shelly for not going fast enough! In truth he wasn't driving any faster than Shelly had been, but it fulfilled his need to be doing something rather than just sitting.

Hardison directed them as best he could, but so far none of the houses he'd sent them to look at seemed to fit the description. Nowhere had they seen razor wire, high fences and massive security.

They sped along the cliff road. Suddenly Shelly reacted.

"Eliot, stop! Did you see that?"

"See what?" Eliot snarled, he was concentrating on the road. He pulled up with a shriek of tyres. Luckily they were the only people on the road at this moment.

"That sign. Back up, I'm pretty sure it said something significant."

He slammed the car into a turn and shot back the way they had come.

"There, stop."

Eliot regarded the sign, now on his side of the road. "Cliff Space? Where have I heard that?"

"Exactly, wasn't that…?"

Hardison chimed in on the ear bud, excited now. "One of the companies on McClure's list! That's it, man. You found it. We're on the coast road, should catch up to you pretty soon now. You go and have a look see, we'll soon be there."

Eliot swung into the road, now speed wasn't the key, caution was. They needed to be on the alert for any surveillance even before the house came into view.

They crested a rise and there on the cliff over- looking the sea was what could only be described as a mansion. It was built against the cliff face with stepped levels at the front over-looking the sea. The woods came down the slope behind the house, which Eliot immediately registered as a useful fact.

They were still a good half a mile from the house, but the security fence was already in evidence. The road they were on was leading them to a set of huge metal gates, no doubt well equipped with electronic surveillance and alarms. The road to the house seemed to be a dead end, so driving past wasn't an option, Eliot pulled in at the side of the road under the shadow of some trees.

"So, if we drive any closer and they get suspicious we could buy ourselves a whole lot more problems. Let's walk!"

Shelly could only agree, they both understood this particular game so much better than Hardison and Parker. After a few minutes consideration they found a spot to conceal Shelly's car from both the house and the road, then they set off into the tree cover to make for the perimeter fence. After an hour of hiking around they had more or less established the layout of the place, and Eliot had decided on his plan of attack. As soon as it was dark, or even dusk, he was going in through the rear of the compound, even if it meant climbing the fence and negotiating the razor wire. They headed back to the road to meet Hardison and Parker.

* * *

Tabby sat despondently on the bed. Since she had arrived here this morning she'd been assessing the whole situation. To say things had gone awry was an understatement! Getting grabbed had been bad enough, but at least she'd managed to contact the crew, now she was alone, totally. When she left the car at the airstrip she had dropped her coat and not realised, when she had noticed and turned around she'd not been allowed to go back for it, she'd been swiftly bundled up the aircraft steps. She just couldn't believe she had been so careless.

How would they ever know where she had gone? She already had one good cry since she'd arrived, now tears threatened again. She was such a fool, so incapable. What on earth lay in store for her now? Dread settled heavily on her heart.

She gazed around the room; it was comfortable, beautifully decorated, like a first class hotel room. The view from the window was nice, if you ignored the bars! She could see the sea; the house appeared to be on a cliff. This house, as far as she had seen, was large. There was a sun room and a pool with a Jacuzzi, there was even a terrace with flowers and sun shades, but it was on the first floor, no escape into the surrounding woods unless you risked jumping! The house was built on several levels and backed into the cliff, what was ground level at the back was two storeys up at the front, overlooking the sea.

The food was good and she'd been told to call for anything she wanted. She'd exchanged words with the four other girls, three seemed happy enough, Alicia Cousins seemed depressed, she was obviously no happier than Tabby!

As far as Tabby could see they were miles from anywhere, even to escape into the surrounding woods and hills seemed next to impossible. When they had arrived they had come through large metal gates, and there appeared to be a high fence around the property. Even if she could escape, she had no clothes which were remotely fit for hiking through the woods. She'd been provided with a complete wardrobe, right down to swim wear and underwear. It consisted of stiletto heels, short skirts and low cut tops, there were also some long slinky dresses and some very risqué looking nightwear, but there was nothing which could be deemed remotely suitable for escaping! It did explain why he'd asked her dress size.

She was now pretty sure that if she behaved and did as she was asked, she was in no fear for her life. What worried her was what she would be asked to do! Drake McClure was building his own personal 'pleasure dome' presumably for his own use, and the use of his friends and business associates. No doubt the girlie entertainment would include dancing, and stripping, and probably sex! So in effect the girls would be sex slaves. It was the stuff of fiction, but every year girls were released from similar sorts of captivity in various parts of the world. Why should here be any different?

* * *

"I got hold of Nate when we decided this was too big and too ….public for us to take on," Hardison confessed. "I'm not expecting him to pull any sort of job, I just thought he would be pretty good at getting the proper authorities in and getting us out of the firing line."

Eliot knew it was true, much as he hated to go running to Nate. "So…he's gonna talk to Bonnano and the FBI?"

"That's the general idea, he's flying in as soon as he can, he'll let me know when."

"Fine, I'm going into the house as soon as it's dark."

"But Eliot, if we're getting FBI involved we need to wait for them to go in, make some sort of plan." Parker objected.

"Yeah, right, and meanwhile, what happens to Tabby?"

"Same as is happening now. She's a prisoner." Hardison returned.

Eliot couldn't contain a shudder of apprehension, he was living in hope that during the day she would be…..safe. This evening and tonight….he didn't rate her chances. When the time came, if it hadn't already, she would fight, and she would get hurt. No he was going in so he could keep an eye on her, protect her _no matter what_!

"I'm going in." He declared softly, and with finality. "You ain't stopping me. I'm not waiting."

"Eliot…." Hardison began.

"Follow the money, do your job, I'm doing mine. I'm going in to protect her. _That's my job_!"

The other three looked at each other helplessly, the inescapable truth here was that it_ was_ his job, it just wasn't the way they thought he should do it at the moment. Hardison had hoped Shelly might be able to control Eliot, but it wasn't going to happen, the only one who could control Eliot at all was Nate, and he wasn't here!

"I'm going in, now help, or don't help, but don't tell me I'm not doing it!" Eliot growled.

"Ok, you win. Go in but don't get yourself seen, captured or anything else, it may blow the whole job before the FBI can get here." Hardison capitulated resignedly.

He returned to the computer to pursue McClure's convoluted business dealings while Eliot, Shelly and Parker studied the plans of the house and its security systems.

* * *

Two hours later Eliot worked his way swiftly through the wood towards the fence line, it was still daylight, he dare not make a move through the fence until at least heavy dusk, but he wanted to see what he was up against while it was still light. He located a small rear gateway, obviously they expected no intruder from this angle because the vegetation grew right up to the fence, he could lie concealed only feet from the entrance. It was a relief that he might not need to climb the razor wire. The gate would, of course, be attached to the main alarms, so he needed either Parker or Hardison to guide him through disabling that.

"Hardison."

"Here, man."

"I'm at the gate. Alarm?"

"I could disable the whole place, power cut or something. It would give you time to just get in, but it might alert them to a possible breach, we may need a complete power cut later. Maybe you can do it manually?"

"Maybe _Parker_ could" Eliot hissed savagely.

"I can maybe guide you." She retaliated. "I said I should go with you. If I was there….."

"No, Parker. You need to maybe help with FBI later, you _know_ how that is."

"Hardison could have….."

"He's hacking, he can't do both."

"Well you can't do 'breaking and entering'" Parker returned snippily.

Eliot clenched his jaw trying not to lose his temper, he hated it when Parker got this way, just because he'd taken what she considered her role she got difficult and defensive. But he was the one who needed to be in side, if this got physical, which it might, it would need a hitter, not a thief. The girls would get broken out, not stolen! "Parker, please, if I take pictures can you help me to do this?" He muttered as reasonably as he could. He wanted to yell at her to stop being obstructive, but that would be counterproductive, he'd learnt that over the years Parker wasn't that scared of him! He'd got to be…nice to her!

"Ok." She replied grudgingly.

He eased round and snapped several pictures of the gate, the lock and the mechanism and sent them to Hardison's computer.

For several minutes he lay quietly, waiting for some verdict from his 'technical team'. As he lay he wondered if anything else was happening.

"Where's Shelly?"

"Gone to collect Nate. They are talking to Bonnano, and then he's getting on to the FBI, but it could take time."

"Damn it, I want to get in there and make sure she'd all right." Eliot growled in frustration.

"Yeah, man. We're working on it. I think we can do this. What you think Parker?"

"Eliot, take one more picture, from underneath. Send it and I'll tell you if it's right."

Eliot took three and sent them.

"Ok, I think we have it. Hardison can isolate and block it for a few moments, then I can talk you through it, you gotta be quick. You want to do it now?"

"Wait!" Eliot stood carefully and glanced around, there was a little cover inside the fence, he was dressed in dark clothes, if they waited another half an hour it would be early dusk and he would be better camouflaged. Hopefully he would still be able to see what he was doing with the gate lock. "How long will it take?"

"Two minutes, for you."

"Twenty seconds for you, no doubt." He added dryly. "If we do it in say, twenty minutes time? I'll let you know when it's a bit darker?"

Fifteen minutes later Hardison engineered a small power surge and a blip which put out just one section of fence, including the gate. Parker had already talked through the lock and this time Eliot did it as she talked, he was through in just over a minute.

"Hey, you could be good at this." Parker sang.

"If you remember you have been teaching me. I do take things in you know!" Eliot growled softly. Since Nate and Sophie had left, both reasonably accomplished lock pickers although not in Parker's league, he had felt they needed another 'expert'. That way they didn't always have to rely on Parker. Eliot liked to be self-sufficient, and he could pick a lock given time and the equipment. He moved swiftly and silently into cover and made his way carefully to the rear of the mansion.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Tabby looked around the room, this whole 'party' thing was so false. These three men here with McClure were on some business deal, the girls were here for window dressing, and probably for entertainment. Truthfully, they were gifts for these men, tonight, when they retired to their rooms Tabby was in little doubt that the girls would be expected to warm their beds!

They were in the sun lounge by the pool, the place has subtle lighting, but there was nowhere to hide. So far none of the men had bother with much more than a few words and glances in the direction of the girls. They seemed all business. She had thought to move closer, to try to find out what they were discussing, but McClure had told her to re-join the other girls. Obviously they already knew the score.

"Stay together." Alicia Cousins muttered when she moved back to join the others. "He doesn't like us to wander around when he has guests. He'll tell us when we are wanted."

Wanted! That would be about it. Required to perform. Sex! That would be the bottom line here. Tabby felt sick. The very idea of some stranger pawing her…..she didn't know if she could take it!

A little after eleven the men seemed to complete their discussions and the girls were beckoned over to join them. To Tabby's initial relief the three visitors seemed to have made their choices already, and she wasn't one of them! For maybe half an hour they talked and drank champagne, she hardly touched hers, her stomach was still in knots.

Then came the point where they retired to their rooms. With a silent prayer of relief Tabby made to move away to her room. McClure appeared at her elbow.

"Aah, Kirsten. Let me see you to your room."

A frisson of terror shot through her. She glanced fearfully at him, but he wasn't displaying any emotion at all, he certainly wasn't regarding her with anything like desire. Maybe she was safe. She walked quietly and composedly beside him, she wasn't about to let him see the fear.

To her horror he opened her door and accompanied her into the room.

"Thank you. I'm very tired, I think I will go straight to bed." She forced out softly.

"Fine if that's the way you want it. I had though a little more champagne but…. that's up to you." He turned and locked the door.

Tabby backed away slowly staring at him in horror as he casually pulled off his jacket and removed his tie.

"I meant alone." She returned in a strained voice.

"Oh, come on now! You know the score." He advanced on her and she backed into the bed and sat down abruptly.

"No. I didn't want to come here, I never agreed to this. You said hostess, you never said ….prostitute!"

He gave a short bark of a laugh. "Exactly how stupid are you?" He made a lunge for her. Tabby scuttled back across the bed to avoid his grabbing hands.

"Don't, please." She gasped.

"What do you mean, don't?" He sneered. "You know why you're here, I think I should give you a trial run before any of my associates want to make use of you. For all I know you might be the world's worst lay, I wouldn't want anyone to be disappointed by you."

"I am." Tabby squeaked frantically.

"You are what?"

"A bad lay. I'm awful, useless." She gasped frantically.

"Then we'd better get you some practice, get you trained." He laughed nastily and made another lunge for her. She dodged again, but the end was inevitable. Finally he cornered her and hauled her, resisting, back to the bed. She kept fighting and his patience snapped, he slapped her hard across the cheek.

Tabby was so surprised and stunned she stopped fighting for all of two seconds, and suddenly she was on her back on the bed. She tried to fight as he pulled at her clothes, little though there was to protect her, she kicked and wriggled and succeeded in catching him in the crotch with her knee, unfortunately not hard enough to do any real damage. He gave a yelp of pain and hit her again. She continued to thrash and kick and bite as she felt him ripping at her top, his nails scratched down her neck and the top of her breasts.

She screamed, and as she did so she registered that it was a waste of breath, no-one here was going to help her. But the scream did get one result. He snarled in fury and grabbed her by the throat.

"Shut up, you thankless little bitch. I offer you a good life, best of everything, and all you can do is fight." He squeezed her throat, making her gag and gasp. He released his hold slightly and Tabby lashed out again. He tightened his grip once more. "Not enough? I'll show you." This time he dug his fingers into her throat. She couldn't breathe, her head began to swim and the world went dark around the edges, she clawed frantically at his hands, but her strength had left her completely, she was fading.

Suddenly there was a crash, then something landed heavily on her, there were awful noises and screams, she was thrown from the bed and the weight was suddenly gone. She was on the floor, on her hands and knees gasping for breath and there was noise all around her. Everything hurt, her throat where he'd been holding her, her face where he'd hit her, her hip where she had hit the floor. She had no idea what was happening.

* * *

_A few_ _minutes earlier_

Eliot was in. It felt better to be moving, but he knew that control was slipping, that black animal which lurked inside was getting closer to the surface.

All he was supposed to be doing was reconnaissance, checking on who was where and the possible escape routes for the girls.

Eliot walked swiftly along the upper hallway. There was no point in sneaking, he would avoid being seen if he could, but being obvious furtive just aroused suspicions. He was dressed in dark clothes, as were the security men, if someone just caught a glimpse they may not realise he was an intruder. If he could just make sure Tabby was unharmed he would hold off getting her out of here for a while. _If_ he was happy with things!

As Hardison had pointed out, this job was supposed to be about Alicia Cousins, but as far as Eliot could see they now knew enough to get the FBI and the state police onto this guy. Hardison had already contacted Bonnano, and he and Parker had been discussing FBI Agent McSweeten too. His priority now was Tabby, the others couldn't quite understand his impatience about this, but they didn't know what he knew, and he wasn't about to tell them!

As far as he could tell everyone appeared to be down in the sun room near the pool, there was some sort of drinks party going on, McClure was entertaining a guest or two. It was frustrating to think Tabby was down there too, although he'd not seen any of the girls yet. He was hoping he might locate her room and wait for her, even if it took all evening. He knew all about waiting, he'd done plenty of it on special ops.

As he approached the next door he was aware of sounds coming from within, not normal sounds. Scuffling and thumping and some muffled voices. Then a raised voice, and a terrified scream.

Eliot flew, he just knew it was Tabby. How did he know? Just instinct. He grabbed at the door, but it was locked, so he didn't waste time he kicked it, several times, finally splintering the wood and flinging it wide with a crash.

All he saw through the red mist was a man on top of her with his hand around her throat. He attacked sending them all crashing from the bed onto the floor. Then he beat the man, it wasn't until he'd hit him several times that he registered it actually was McClure, not that he cared particularly. He didn't hold back, he beat him until he'd stopped moving, which didn't take long the way he was hitting.

* * *

Tabby coughed and gasped and retched, just trying to breathe and get a bit of sanity back, and suddenly he was there again, grabbing her shoulder. She lashed out, trying to scream, but she couldn't get her breath enough to make much sound at all.

"Tabby. It's all right. It's me." That familiar snarl got through the fog.

Eliot! Where had he come from? How had he found her? Her white knight, her saviour. She threw herself at him, still coughing and gasping. He held her, turning her face away from his shoulder. "Breathe." He ordered. "Sit up and breathe."

She tried to do as he told her, she could only stare at him in disbelief. A few seconds later he yanked her unceremoniously to her feet. "We gotta go. Can you walk; cos I'm gonna need both hands?"

For Eliot she could do anything. "Yes." She gasped.

She still couldn't quite believe he was here. He had saved her life, of that she was certain. McClure had been intent on choking the life from her resistant body. She'd been trying to escape and all she'd succeeded in doing was making him so angry he was prepared to kill her.

Had Eliot killed him? The thought wasn't nice.

"Is he dead?" She whispered as Eliot dragged her towards the door.

"I don't know, and I don't care." Eliot growled. "Let's go."

Tabby could feel the fury emanating from him, this was an Eliot she didn't know. His eyes were like two chips of ice, with an almost maniacal gleam. His hair was fastened back with a dark blue bandana and his face set in an intimidating scowl. _This_ Eliot was frightening.

Eliot hustled her to the door and opened it a crack, nothing visible, but the noise they had just made would soon rouse the pursuit, he bundled her out and hustled her swiftly along the corridor.

This was not how he'd wanted this to happen. The monster was out now. He'd talked to Sophie in the past about control, well, he'd lost it there for a few moments. When he'd heard Tabby scream it had been like flicking a switch. He'd only really lost it a couple of times before on this job, once in the hall of mirrors and once in that warehouse, but he'd lost it back there, and he'd scared her.

He'd also put them both in jeopardy. Now they had to get away from here as fast as they could, and getting out wasn't going to be easy!

They sped along the upper hallway, they had just reached the stairs, halfway along the hallway when one of the numerous security guys walked round the corner towards them. Eliot didn't hesitate; he launched at the man, preparing to do his worst, he just hoped Tabby wouldn't start screaming or any such thing.

He didn't know Tabby at all if he thought she was going to come over all girly! She watched in horrified fascination as Eliot took the fight to his opponent. She not seen him beat McClure, but watching him in action was…...an adrenaline rush! She winced and cringed at some of the blows he took, but had to suppress her inadvertent cheer of elation when he was obviously winning.

Suddenly she heard feet on the stair behind her, she spun to face a second security guy, this one was no smaller and no less tough looking, and Eliot was busy! Time to stand up for everything she believed in!

Eliot struggled with the man, he was considerably taller and heavier than he was himself, not that it had ever stopped him before! He pulled a choke on and as the man began to flail he brought his knee up to try to finish the job, it almost worked. But this guy was tough, he only fell to his knees, and grabbed at Eliot again, as he went in to end matters he sensed more than heard someone behind him. He lunged forward desperately to avoid the attack he felt coming from behind, and in so doing missed stopping his original target.

Then behind him he heard a crash and a gasp and a thud, he couldn't look, he'd got to finish this one first. He finally dispatched the man with a hard fist and spun to confront the next problem, except it wasn't there. The second man was laid out on the floor, standing over him was Tabby, green eyes blazing, wielding the remains of a lamp.

For a second he stared at her in disbelief, and then registered that since this was most definitely his girl, of course she would do a thing like that! It then flashed across his brain that she looked like Lara Croft. Stilettos, mini skirt, torn top which was exposing her bra beneath, and a fiendish expression! Definitely his sorta girl!

He grinned at her. "That's my girl. C'mon Lara, let's go!"

Lara? Tabby dropped the lamp and sped after him as best she could, stiletto heels were not made for escape attempts. She caught up with him at the end of the corridor. "Lara?"

He flashed a wolfish grin at her. "Oh come on, even you have heard of the Tomb Raider."

"Oh, right." He thought she resembled Angelia Jolie? Good grief! "Where are we going?"

"Basement, opposite side to the sun room, that way we can hopefully get across to the fence, which will be another problem entirely."

"But….what about the other girls? That was why we came here. We can't just leave them."

"Tabby, things have changed a bit now. Since I've incapacitated McClure we will be hunted, we can't hang about. The authorities will come in from outside, Nate was on his way but I doubt if his plan will be possible now, it counted on no one being alerted, and I've blown that one!" He raised his hand to his ear. "_Dammit_! I've lost my ear bud. Now I can't let anyone know what is going on. We need to get out, fast!"

Tabby felt a wave of guilt. He'd blown it because of her! By rescuing her he had jeopardised the whole job.

"Eliot…"

"Hush…no more talking. Follow." Eliot ordered softly.

Eliot was thinking fast here, he had no idea at what point he'd lost the ear bud, possibly when he'd beaten McClure because he'd heard nothing from anyone since then. What he badly needed now was guidance from Hardison, he needed directions and he needed the sensors and cameras sabotaged. He also needed the rest of the guards distracted so they could make it to the fence. How much of the situation was known to his friends was a mystery, by now it must be obvious that he'd lost contact.

Dammit all, what was he thinking here? Or rather, not thinking! The ear bud had become such a way of life that they tended to ignore the other route. He delved into his inside pocket and yanked out his phone.

"Hardison?"

"Yeah, man. What's going down? I reckon you've been fighting to lose that ear bud!"

"Yeah." Eliot hissed; if it was possible to snarl while whispering, he managed it! "I got Tabby, we need a route out."

"I can't track you, man. Too much interference. If I just cut all the power will that help?"

Eliot glanced around, the place was lit like daylight, in darkness it would be a maze, but there would be no alarms. No doubt there would be a back-up supply, but it would give them a few minutes.

"Give us five minutes, then do it." He hissed.

"What about Alicia Cousins?" Hardison objected.

"Not now! We need out. Do it!" He ended the call and grabbed Tabby's hand. They needed to get as far as they could before it all went black. "Come on, run."

They made it to the rear of the house, the area behind the house led up to the woods and to the gate where Eliot had got in. What they now needed was darkness and the power cut to make it across the well-lit area and through the gate. The pool of light surrounding the house was as bright as day, the darkness beyond, where the gate lurked, was ink-black.

Eliot groped for the phone. "Hey Hardison, dark now would be real good. It will put the gate alarms out of action too?" He hissed urgently. "We're gonna need a good three minutes of dark, more would be better."

"On it, and yes the gate will go out but I can't guarantee how long before they get the back up working, it may be almost instant."

"What?" Eliot hissed, horrified. "These guys have guns, and they will use them!"

"Hell, man! Worst case scenario, you might be lucky."

"Ok, go." He snarled, throwing Tabby a rather desperate look. Were they both about to die? "Whatever happens, keep running, and don't wait for _anything."_

The lights went out and they bolted from the doorway, Eliot was fairly certain of the direction and he wasted no time. He could hear Tabby behind him, she wasn't exactly silent, but she seemed to be keeping with him. The ground wasn't smooth, all the landscaping had been done to the front of the property, this was sloping grass land, strewn with the occasional rut and rock, not a surface for swift movement, and they were running uphill.

Their luck held for nearly two minutes, Eliot could hear Tabby's gasps behind him as she was running out of wind. Suddenly he heard someone approaching from their left, he paused and swung to locate the guard, Tabby caught him up and he pushed her ahead and away from the threat.

"Go on." He growled. At that moment the lights flickered and one or two came back on. They were still just in the circle of light, the darkness was only feet away and the fence another fifty yards further into the blackness. The guard raised his gun and went to shout, he got out one yell before the rock Eliot had grabbed hit him on the head, it was enough to startled, not enough to incapacitate, but it gave Eliot a precious two seconds to close the distance between them. He hit the man with a flying tackle and wrestled with the gun. It went off, luckily only into the air. They rolled into the darkness, Eliot had no idea where Tabby had now gone, hopefully she'd made it to the gate.

The guard caught him with a good blow in the ribs and threw him off, but before he could go into attack again he heard the muffled curse as the man was hit from behind. It could only be Tabby!

Eliot launched back at the man and flattened him, this time he redoubled his efforts ripped the gun from his grasp and hit him with the butt. That was the end of matters.

He grabbed Tabby, who was lurking, rock in hand just in the shadow. "I told you to _run_!"

"Would Lara Croft run?"

"Tabby, this is not a game." He snarled, hauling her towards the gate.

"Please, Eliot, don't tell me that! If this is not a game, I might not be able to get through it." She panted, keeping pace with him. "Let me believe what keeps me sane." They reached the gate. "Anyhow, I couldn't get through here without you. If we are getting out of here it will be together or not at all."

Eliot got hold of the gate, it was true, Parker had helped him open it the first time. He grabbed for the phone, hopefully Hardison could cut the power so he could open it again, but his pocket came up empty. "_Dammit!"_

No time and no chance to go back, he could hear voices. He swung the gun which he still held and jammed it into the gate lock. This was going to be brute strength aided by adrenaline. He put every bit of muscle he had behind twisting and smashing the mechanism, it held for maybe twenty seconds. As he had known would happen, as soon as the mechanism broke and the gate swung open, the alarm went off. He threw aside the now twisted gun, grabbed Tabby's hand and they ran. To where he had no idea, away was all that mattered at the moment.

The house behind them was now ablaze with lights again, Hardison's power cut hadn't been long lived, now the light was actually hindering those trying to see where they had gone. Night vision took a while to settle. Eliot just prayed that they wouldn't have anything as sophisticated as night vision glasses. But they were only security men, all be it pretty tough ones, this was not a military operation as far as he could see. Drug running possibly, selling girls possibly, but not gun running!

His problem now was which way to go? If he headed for the road, and Hardison and Shelly, he would be moving right into the area most likely to be searched by the guards. If Hardison and the others had any sense they would make themselves scarce for a while, so they had better not risk going that way. If he'd had his phone he could have talked this through with Hardison, but it was long gone. So they just had to head into the woods and hope they would evade capture until Hardison could organise the inevitable retribution to rain down on McClure's activities.

After around five minutes of frantic flight through the trees Eliot decided it was time for more stealth. He thought they had left immediate pursuit behind, now they needed to move quietly, but still quickly, that way the guards may not locate them. They were heading deeper into the woods and hopefully would be found eventually by friends rather than enemies.

He paused for a few moments to listen, he could hear distant shouts, but nothing obviously nearby. He could also hear Tabby, shivering. Hardly surprising, she was wearing next to nothing! He pulled off his jacket and removed his shirt.

"Come here, Kitten." She moved closer. "Put this on." He guided her into the shirt. It was very dark under the trees, nearly impossible to see what they were doing. She slipped gratefully into the garment, it was soft brushed cotton, hardly thick but better than what she'd got on. She buttoned it and rolled the sleeves to free her hands.

"Ready?" He growled softly.

"Yes, let's go." Tabby whispered.

They set off at a swift but steady pace to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the house. It was hard going, uphill over rough terrain in the dark. It wasn't long before Tabby was gasping for breath, she wasn't exactly unfit, but she wasn't used to this. Her feet hurt, her legs hurt and she wondered how long she could keep this up!


	19. Chapter 19

Thank you for the reviews I've had so far, getting to the end now, hope you will all stick with it!

* * *

Chapter 19

It must have been almost an hour later when the stopped to rest. They lay quietly beneath the bushes resting for a few moments. Tabby shivered, she was still woefully dressed for this even though she was wearing Eliot's shirt. Eliot reached out and pulled her close, so she was almost beneath him. So far he'd been…..very abrupt, hardly unkind but very…..distant in the way he was treating her.

"What?" She questioned fearfully. "Did you hear something?"

"You're shivering, I thought I might warm you up a bit."

"Oh." Tabby couldn't really see his face in the darkness. She wasn't at all sure of his mood, grim was about the most accurate description. She didn't know if it was just the situation or if he was angry at her for her inadequacies. Getting caught the way she had meant the job had not worked out. Alicia Cousins was still in that house and now McClure, if he was still in the land of the living, would know he was in trouble.

If he was dead? It didn't bear thinking about the trouble Eliot would then be in!

"Eliot, what if he's dead?"

"Sweetheart…" What could he say to that? "There is a reason I'm wanted in several countries" He murmured close to her ear. "But I doubt if he's dead. I hit him, but only with my fists, I didn't actually…..try to kill him, he's a big man and fists won't finish him"

Tabby lay silent beside him, it was something she'd tried not to think about, she'd accepted that in the military he would have killed, but she'd tried to ignore the fact that it may have happened since, that he would consider killing outside of a military situation. But she could deny it no longer, it was now a matter of what she chose to think or do about the facts.

"How…. many?"

"How many?" Eliot had anticipated the question. He replied as he had done to a similar question before. "If you ask me that, Tabby, I'm gonna tell you. So please, don't ask me that."

Tabby lapsed into silence, it was enough. If she had to know, she could, but if she asked and he told her she realised he would never be comfortable with her again. If he was going to tell her, it would have to be his decision, it was something she wouldn't ask again.

Eliot too was silent for several long seconds, he made a decision. She may as well know the full horror of this. "I will tell you, because you need to know. Some deserved it, others….well….I was following orders. Orders which I now think I should have ignored, orders which, in the end, I _did_ ignore. But the fact that I finally saw the light doesn't make up for the times I didn't."

Tabby lay quietly beside him, digesting that bit of information. She'd known it was bad, now she knew_ how_ bad!And how many didn't matter, in the end it would always be too many, a fact which Eliot obviously felt very keenly.

"Are you cold?" He questioned again.

"A little." She shivered. "It was not so bad when we were moving. But I'm a bit tired too."

"You are doing just fine." Eliot pulled her closer, for a second she stiffened against him. He released her slightly to allow her to pull away if that was what she wanted. He knew she was uncertain about what he'd said, uncertain about everything now, the way he'd behaved had opened her eyes to the truth in a way words could never have done. He'd admitted to killing since he'd left the forces, that would worry any girl. Not only that, the last man who had forced himself onto her body had been intent on rape, she could hardly be blamed for pulling away.

To his everlasting surprise she didn't move, in fact after a few seconds she snuggled closer against him. He wrapped his arm around her to try to warm her and his body reacted just the way it always did when she got close to him. He gave a little sigh of frustration, this was just ridiculous!

"What's wrong?" Tabby murmured. She knew now that it made no difference what he'd done, it never had made a difference. What he'd just told her was unpleasant hearing, but hadn't she always known what he was capable of doing? And truthfully, hadn't she just proved that she was no less capable of violence too? She hit those two guards with no real thought that she might cause their deaths, she just wanted to stop them, at any cost. Bonnie and Clyde, reborn!

"Oh…..not much." He peered down at her through the darkness. "No, untrue. You want the truth? And this time I will tell you." Tabby gave a little nod. "I want to rip all your clothes off and make love to you. Inappropriate, stupid, and impossible. But that's the truth."

"Oh." Tabby murmured rather stunned. "Um….maybe later?"

"Definitely later; but only if _you_ want to." That she could still want to be with him was a miracle as far as he was concerned.

Once again Tabby lapsed to silence. There was no doubt about if she would want to, and if she was truthful she would probably not have pushed him away right now, she'd pushed him away when they were in his room, but that had been embarrassment, and she'd regretted it afterwards. But he was being sensible here, they were on the run, they needed to lie quiet and attentive while they rested.

Tabby made a decision, not much of one it was true, but he'd told her the truth, so she would do the same, although her truth was less…damaging in a way.

"Eliot?"

"Sweetheart?"

"I love you." She couldn't really see his expression, but she was fairly sure he was looking….undecided. He didn't know what to say to her, so she forestalled him. "It's all right, I know you don't feel that way. I understand, but I just wanted you to know…..where I stand. I don't expect you to say you love me or anything like that."

"Tabby…." He began softly.

She laid a finger on his lips. "No, there is nothing to say. That's just the way it is. I expect nothing."

If Eliot was truthful, he'd already suspected this, but what he just couldn't get his head around was how _he_ actually felt. There were only two women he now felt for, Sophie and Parker, and although he would defend either to the death, he was pretty certain he didn't love them in the way Tabby was meaning. Love? It was something he'd dismissed from his life. But this girl…. If wanting her beside him, needing her to be there, being willing to die for her, but, he now realised, actually wanting to _live_ for her .….if any of that counted for much he was already well on the way himself. There was the change….he never exactly wanted to die, but it hadn't mattered; now he _wanted_ to live! He hugged her close for a few more moments, then finally did what he'd been wanting to do since the moment he saw her, he kissed her. He didn't push it too much, now was not the time, but it was surely enough to let her know what he was feeling. He released her mouth before he got too involved.

"Are we ready to move again?" He murmured softly.

"Ready when you are." Tabby returned as positively as she could. "The sooner we move, the sooner we will be out of here."

He got up and helped her to her feet, after one final hug he set off, still holding her hand. Tabby was grateful for the contact, it made her feel warmer and safer.

The pursuit seemed to have vanished, but Eliot knew they were not out of the woods yet, quite literally. Even if they'd lost their enemies it was going to be a long hard slog back to civilisation. How much he had come to rely on Hardison and his communications was being brought forcibly home to Eliot. It was like being back in the army and in a war zone!

* * *

It was now grey dawn, they'd moved on for maybe another two hours and Tabby was weary. She couldn't help tripping and stumbling and she knew she was being far from quiet.

"Eliot. Please, I need to rest for a bit, I'm so clumsy. My feet and legs hurt so much."

He stopped and sat her down beside a tree bole. When he looked at her feet, properly, he was hardly surprised at her comment. In the dark he just hadn't realised, she was still wearing stiletto heels. He eased them from her feet and she gave a gasp of pain.

"Oh, no! I might not get them back on again!" She murmured fearfully.

Her feet were rubbed raw, her legs were scratched, and cut and bruised. No wonder she was in pain. "You can't put them back on." He announced firmly. He'd been intending to rub her feet, but they were so raw he could see that would hurt.

"But I have to." Tabby gasped. "I can't go barefoot."

Eliot was already thinking about this. Hardison always laughed at his various layers of clothes, but there were times when it really helped. He took off his jacket and then his long sleeved tee shirt. Then he removed the sleeves. He pulled off his bandana and ripped it in half. Finally he pulled off his own boots and socks.

"Excuse this." He apologised with a rather rueful grin. "Not exactly clean from the laundry." He pulled his socks onto her feet and then he bandaged over the top using both sleeves and ending with the bandana to secure everything. The result was some pretty crude moccasins. "It's hardly stylish, and it won't be that comfortable, but it's better than those shoes." He concluded.

Tabby could only agree, just to be free of the constricted toes felt wonderful.

Eliot replaced what clothing he had left, it was getting less and less by the hour. Luckily he wasn't feeling the cold too badly, and he could cope with no socks for a while.

He sat back against the tree and Tabby wriggled round so she was snuggled against him, sitting between his thighs and totally surrounded by his arms. It just felt so….right, if only they could sit there happily without worrying about getting home.

"Thank you." Tabby whispered.

"For what?"

"For rescuing me, for keeping me safe, for looking after me."

"You're welcome."

Tabby gave a little laugh and buried her face in his neck. How very Eliot!

He dropped a kiss on her temple, of course he would look after her, how could she imagine anything else? But she obviously did, she'd been so determined to make him understand that she expect nothing from him, it didn't make him feel good. But love? He didn't deserve her love. However you looked at it, two wrongs did not make a right, and how many rights did it take to atone for the wrongs? There were so many wrongs in his past, he'd been an assassin, he'd killed for revenge, for money, at the behest of others, how could he ever be washed clean of that? How did he deserve a decent life, a home, a woman, a family? How did he deserve love in any shape or form?

Tabby slept, Eliot sat still and quiet and tried not to disturb her, waiting an hour would make little difference. He didn't know where they were or where they were going, but they seemed to be alone, which was a relief.

When Tabby awoke she almost panicked, she was being held closely, but it only took her a second to register who had her in such a close embrace. Eliot. She was so attuned to him she knew how he smelt.

"Feel any better, beautiful?"

"A little." Tabby admitted. She hardly imagined beautiful was an apt description, she must look like the aftermath of a disaster movie.

"We need to get back on the road." He got to his feet and pulled her up with him. "Let's go."

They had only been walking for a few minutes after this when they heard distant voices. Eliot's heart sank, it might not be pursuit, but they couldn't afford to take the risk. He grabbed her hand and hustled her away as fast as they could move. So far the makeshift footwear was proving successful, but they'd barely started here.

They made pretty good time for about twenty minutes, but Eliot was convinced they'd not escaped, every instinct told him the hunters were closing in. What he feared most now was guns. All the bodyguards had been carrying, if they had guns, they would use guns. McClure had suffered a devastating blow to his ego and been beaten up too. He wasn't going to take this lying down.

Eliot was now convinced McClure was still alive, why else would his men be on their trail, they were paid to work, they wouldn't do this out of loyalty. He was also pretty certain that McClure would happily see them both dead!

Tabby was really tiring, he could see by the way she moved, she was stiff and sore and very weary.

Suddenly the crack of a gunshot split the air, Eliot was conscious of the whap of a bullet. That had been close and was no random shot! He thrust Tabby ahead of him and they bolted as best they could away from the sound.

Tabby tripped and fell, he hauled her back to her feet and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"I'm so sorry." He grated in her ear. "If I get shot, you keep on running."

"No." Tabby gasped.

"Yes." He insisted. "I'm the hitter; I'm supposed to take the heat, not you. This is all my fault." He hugged her closer. "I should never have let you do this, never have agreed to let you get involved." Tabby tried to protest. "It's true. " He returned. "There are a lot of things I should have done. I should have made a move sooner, and then maybe you wouldn't have got into this. There's so much we should have done, we wasted so much time. Now I think it's too late." Tabby stared up at him in dismay. "Kitten, I don't think we can get out of this. I'm sorry, I wished we'd had more time."

He released her and set off as before, keeping a firm hold on her hand.

Tabby stumbled after him, unable to think beyond what her heart was now telling her. He'd virtually admitted that he wanted to be with her, that he saw them together. Just that idea was enough to give her strength, even if it was only for a short while.

They ran and tripped and blundered. Now they could hear other things. Sirens, and a helicopter, hope rose it Tabby's heart.

"Eliot, do you think…." She gasped.

"I do, but I can hear people on the ground, nearer than the sirens and I don't think they are friendly. Listen."

The paused for a second and Tabby realised he was right, at least two men, calling to each other every few minutes, and there was the sound of branches breaking, then from another direction came another shout. These men were on the hunt.

If Eliot had been alone he would have actively gone after them, with Tabby to defend he couldn't do that. Should he try to hide her in the undergrowth and go after the pursuers? But what if she was discovered while he wasn't here? The idea made him go cold, he just didn't dare leave her.

Suddenly there were two quick shots from ahead of them and slightly to their left.

Eliot veered away to the right, pulling Tabby after him as he ducked through the undergrowth. A second shot came from the right. All Tabby was really aware of was that Eliot grunted and tripped. She almost fell over him as she dodged past him, now on his knees.

"Come on." She pulled at him. He staggered to his feet only to reel and stumble back to his hands and knees, he was still holding her hand and he pulled her down with him. She could hear more shouting ahead of them.

"Eliot!" Tabby gasped in fear. "Are you all right?"

"I'm hit." He grunted, he slumped forward onto the ground and rolled onto his side, still gripping her hand so hard that it hurt.

"Eliot, where?" Tabby wasn't far short of panic now. She pulled his jacket aside and there in his chest, a tear and blood starting to soak into his tee shirt. His eyes were starting to glaze over even as she tore at his clothes.

He pulled her down towards him. "Nothing you can do." He muttered. "I wanted….when we get back…..I want to…." He was struggling to get words out.

"Quiet." Tabby sobbed. "Save your strength.

"I want to go fishing." He murmured.

"We will, now be quiet."

"I need to tell you….I want to make love to you….promise me….when…" His voice faded.

"Eliot! Stay with me." Tabby begged frantically.

"Kitten…." He murmured, his eyes drifted shut.

"Eliot." Tabby was sobbing in earnest by this time. "Stay awake. Don't leave me. Please."

She pressed her hands to the wound to try and staunch the bleeding, what good that might do she didn't know, but she had to do something.

Behind her someone crashed through the undergrowth, Tabby didn't care now. All that mattered in the world was right here in front of her, and she was losing him.

She could hear more shouts, but no more gunfire. Suddenly she was grabbed from behind. She screamed and lashed out.

"Tabby. It's me, steady on, girl." Hardison landed on his knees beside her. "What happened?"

"He's been shot."

Hardison took one look and was on his cell phone instantly. "Nate, get the paramedics here, NOW! GPS my call. Fast. Eliot's shot." Nate obviously made some comment because Hardison paused, then answered. "Yes it is." He ended the call. He stared down at Eliot with the most awful feeling of inevitability, this was the scenario they had engineered just before they had split the team. The injury which people had been led to believe had finished Eliot Spencer. Was it about to become true? The weirdest feeling of deja vu flooded over him.

Tabby stared at him, the question from Nate must have been 'Is it bad?' She wasn't stupid, she _knew _this was bad. She'd got to hold it together, nothing mattered now but Eliot.

Hardison was still kneeling by her side muttering non-stop, she tuned in to what he was saying.

"C'mon, man, fight, you can fight this, you always do. Damn you, don't you give in. If you give in, dammit I'm gonna kill you myself, so help me. Fight, dammit!" Eliot's eyelids flickered slightly, Hardison flung his arm around Tabby and pulled her close. "Talk to him, girl."

Tabby tried to talk through her choking tears. "Eliot, listen to me. You mustn't give up."

His eyes flickered open for a second and fell on both of them. He muttered something, Hardison dropped his head to catch it.

"What?"

"Get your hands off my girl."

"Make me." Hardison returned. "Fight it so you can fight me! I don't care if you punch me out, just fight so you can!"

Tabby couldn't remember Hardison ever sounding so….frantic.

Seconds later another body arrived in a flurry of branches. Shelly shoved them both unceremoniously aside. He seemed to have some sort of medical knowledge, which was a blessing, he took over. Hardison got to his feet and headed back into the trees.

"Hold his hand, Tabby. Keep on squeezing, hard, try to make him take notice, don't let him go." Shelly ordered.

Tabby did as she was asked, little good though it seemed to do. His eyelids were flickering and a couple of times he moved his lips and murmured very slightly.

"Talk to him!" Shelley demanded. He was leaning over him doing much the same as Tabby had done, trying to stop the bleeding.

Tabby talked, it was hard to get past the lump in her throat, she leaned close and spoke against his ear, that way she could say anything and no-one would hear. Not that she cared about declaring she loved him, if they didn't realise that by now they had to be blind. But she talked about the night they'd spent, about the maple syrup and the shower, just anything that might get his attention and keep him awake. She sat back a little and talked about going fishing, which Shelly did catch.

"He took you fishing?"

"Yes, it was fun. We had the best day." Tabby returned tearfully.

"Huh, last of the great romantics, our Eliot." Shelly mocked. Tabby glared at him, how could he be so….? But as she looked at him she realised he too had tears in his eyes.

It seemed like forever but suddenly Hardison was back with people and stretchers and equipment. She was bundled away from him, joined only a few seconds later by Shelly, who immediately took her in his arms for a big hug.

It didn't take many minutes, he was on the stretcher and Shelly leapt forward with Hardison to help to carry it from the trees. Tabby followed behind, all her hopes now pinned on these men, could they help him, would they get there in time?

The helicopter was on the road, awaiting the arrival of the stretcher, Tabby stumbled forward, desperate to go with him, but the paramedic forestalled her.

"No room for any more."

"But….Please, I want to go with him….somebody should…"

"Mr Ford will go with him to the hospital, you will have to get yourself there, unless you need medical attention?"

"I…Oh, no….." Tabby shook her head dumbly.

They were in the helicopter and in the air in seconds. She was left standing there, bereft, covered in Eliot's blood, wearing a micro skirt, Eliot's shirt and makeshift bindings on her feet. She was cold, shocked, weary to the bone and devastated by what had just happened, and no-one seemed to even realise she was still here.

Seconds later Shelly grabbed her arm.

"Why didn't you go with him? I thought you would go with him!" He sounded….appalled.

"They wouldn't let me, Nate has gone with him." She'd never met Nate, but he'd obviously been waiting in the helicopter.

Hardison arrived at her other side. "Tabby….Nate wouldn't have realised you needed to go, Eliot is sort of….like a son." He noticed her feet for the first time. "What have you done to your feet, girl?"

"Oh, nothing really." She gave a dismissive shake of her head "I was wearing stiletto heels, they rubbed and hurt, I couldn't run. Please Hardison, I need to go to the hospital."

"Of course you do." Shelly cut in. "We need to get you out of here before they start asking questions. I'll take you, Hardison, run interference." He caught Tabby's hand and began to hustle her towards the car. She hobbled and blundered for the first steps, getting started hurt! Shelly stopped instantly and looked down at her feet. "That sore?" He whisked her into his arms and headed for the car at a speedy lope.

Within seconds they were in the car and edging out of the vehicles now parked all over the road.

"Will he be all right?" Tabby questioned fearfully, she sat looking at her hands, covered in his blood, Shelly wasn't a great deal better!

Shelly shot her a look. "I wish I could say yes, but honestly, I don't know. He's tough, but I don't know if he's _that_ tough."

They rocketed through the woods, the road was now thankfully empty and Shelly had his foot to the floor. That didn't stop him asking a few questions of his own, though not the ones Tabby would have faced from the authorities.

"Did they hurt you?" He glanced over at her, stupid question, black eye, bruises, scratches, of course she was hurting. "I don't just mean hit you. I know Eliot was seriously worried that you were going to get raped."

Tabby shook her head tearfully. "No. I know it would have happened, eventually."

"You could just have given in, it wouldn't have hurt so much."

Tabby looked over at him. Another one who assumed, exactly as Eliot had done, that her past life style meant sleeping with men just happened. Damn it all, why? She opened her mouth and told him the truth.

"The only man I've ever slept with is Eliot."

Shelly nearly drove in the ditch!

"Geez. No wonder he was in such a stew about it."

Tabby wasn't quite sure how she felt about that, of course she wanted him to care if she was safe, and she knew he did from the way he'd been acting. But she wanted him to care about her, to care for her, not to care that she was a near innocent exposed to danger. He'd said things which made her believe he really cared, but had that just been the situation? Would things change when he recovered? And she wasn't even going to consider that he might not recover!

Damn it all, she wanted him alive at any cost. If she had to accept him not loving her, then she could do it if that was what it took to have Eliot alive.

"Why should it matter?" She demanded tearfully.

Shelly threw her a glance while negotiating the next bend at a ridiculously high speed.

"Because….well, it's all a matter of trust, really." He replied rather doubtfully. He tried to continue. "I think….I mean that….well…."

"Is that just the way guys think?" Tabby questioned.

"Not necessarily." Shelly returned. "But most guys don't like rape."

"Gives the sex a bad name." Tabby murmured.

"Yes…no…Dammit, what am I supposed to say to that?" Shelly growled. He knew perfectly well that Eliot in particular harboured a very protective streak when confronted with the innocent, but he wasn't sure if that was what Tabby needed to hear. What she wanted to know was that Eliot had been afraid for her, personally, and that was something only Eliot knew! "Tabby, you trusted him the way you've never trusted another man. That_ is_ important, it would be very important to Eliot."

She didn't answer, she stared unseeing out of the window, tears still sliding down her face. So he cared, but probably not in the way she so wanted him to; but now it didn't matter. If he lived through this she could watch him walk away. If that was what it took for him to live, so be it. She found herself praying, something she'd not done for years. She found herself making promises to the Good Lord, if only he would hear her. Grant her just this one thing, let him live, she would never ask for anything else, ever again.

"Don't give up, Tabby." Shelly said gently. "Maybe you will get to go fishing again."

She couldn't answer, she just shook her head and continued to stare at the passing scenery.


	20. Chapter 20

Nearly there!

* * *

Chapter 20

The hospital was awful. Eliot was already in surgery and no-one could tell them anything. The first thing Shelly did when they arrived was to help Tabby clean up a little. It gave them both something to do beyond just waiting, he acquired a towel and toiletries in the best Parker style, and found her a bathroom.

"Ten minutes, Tabby. That's all it's gonna take, I'll be back in ten minutes with clothes and footwear. Nothing will change in that time, I promise you."

Shelly was as good as his word, he found a shop and got her jeans, a shirt, underwear and some trainers. He even got her a hairbrush. Tabby just couldn't believe how he just did what needed to be done. He then bundled all the stuff she'd been wearing into a bag, he'd got a feeling the FBI might want some of it as evidence, for that reason he didn't put Eliot's shirt in there too.

"Military resourcefulness." He observed when she commented on what he'd achieved. Tabby hardly looked stylish, but it was a little better than what she had been wearing. Her feet were so sore, but the trainers helped.

When they returned to the waiting area the FBI had arrived and Tabby was in demand. No-one wanted to leave, but neither did they want to expose themselves. Hardison and Shelly did their utmost to protect her, but the FBI would have their way.

Tabby didn't want to talk about any of it, no-one knew what had happened, she was brief in her explanations, even to Shelly and Hardison, she didn't know Nate at all and didn't feel she could talk to him.

The FBI insisted on questioning her, when asked what had happened to her she replied.

"McClure hit me, he wanted sex and I tried to fight him." That was it, no more details. At the time they were sitting on a long bench and Shelly had his arm around her, he stroked her hair back from her face. She just thought he was being kind, it didn't occur to her that he deliberately exposed the blackening bruises on her neck where McClure had tried so hard to end her life.

"Oh, I see." The agent replied. "What about….?"

Shelly's furious glare stopped the question. "She told you. Leave her alone."

"How did you get away from him?" The agent asked.

"Eliot came." The words were spoken with a finality that made the agent realise she would say no more.

"Enough!" Shelly snapped.

The agent closed her note book. "For now."

"For good!" Shelly replied.

"But…"

"But nothing. You've got the guy. You can see what for."

* * *

Tabby watched as Hardison and Parker, with a fair bit of help from Nate, managed to wriggle their way out of the developing situation. They seemed to have the ear of both someone in the FBI and a fairly high ranking Police Officer called Bonnano, between these two the whole affair became official, the girls were rescued and the villains apprehended. Hardison's best intentions of following the dirty money just didn't happen, they were too close to the authorities to risk hacking the accounts now. This whole affair had gone wrong, but they had achieved the goal of rescuing Alicia Cousins!

* * *

For hours they waited, so many people seemed to have gathered for news, Tabby was just dazed by it all.

Along with Parker, Hardison, Shelly and Mikel, there was Nate and Sophie, whom she had never met, there was also Quinn and Bonnano, and two other men who appeared to know Shelly and must be friends from the forces. Finally, after about three hours Toni arrived. As far as Tabby was concerned that was the final straw, she lost it. She'd cried several times mostly on Shelly, and once on Hardison, but had managed to keep it to silent weeping, when Toni got there she just wept broken heartedly in his arms.

Toni was just appalled about everything. When he'd sent her here he had never in a million years expected this sort of outcome.

Finally after six hours of waiting someone came with news, and it was not the news they had wanted to hear.

"I have to tell you the true situation." The surgeon began. "I am not one for telling lies, to give false hope where there is none. I can only tell you that the situation is far from good. Mr Spencer has left surgery, he has a no better chance than 30/70 of survival. If he does survive I have to tell you that, due to the fact he was resuscitated twice on the way to hospital, there is a chance he may have suffered brain damage. You need to prepare yourselves for the worst."

This statement was greeted with a stunned silence. There didn't seem to be anything at all to say.

Tabby could feel the world roaring in her ears as she looked helplessly around at the gathering of friends. Parker had her face buried in Hardison's jacket, Sophie was openly crying on Nate's shoulder. Everyone just looked devastated. She was no-one special here, everyone loved him she realised.

And this was all her fault. She turned and walked quietly away. They must all realise this was her fault. She'd as good as killed him. If she'd not been so pathetic, if she'd not got kidnapped, if she'd played her part better in the mansion, if she'd just allowed McClure to have his way and not fought him; so many mistakes. If she'd just accepted that the part she was playing would bring that result, then Eliot would never have come charging in after her before the plan was ready. If she'd not virtually forced him to run for it from McClure, and he had only run because he felt he needed to get her away, then he would still be here, fit and healthy, not fighting for his life.

This was all _her_ fault!

She walked dazedly out into the hospital grounds with no idea of where she was going. Here she sat on a bench underneath an oak tree and wished she was dead.

Hardison found her here nearly an hour later. He was worried and pretty angry. "Dammit, girl! We've all been so worried about you. Why did you leave? Why didn't you tell someone?"

"It's my fault." She murmured brokenly.

"What? Oh, no! Come on girl. How can it be your fault?"

"He wasn't supposed to get me out like that was he? He was supposed to wait for a proper raid from the FBI. I heard Nate taking to that police man, Bonnano. He came in too soon because of me."

"Dammit, girl. From the look of things he did what he had to do. McClure was trying to kill you!"

"No." She murmured sadly. "I shouldn't have fought him. Then Eliot wouldn't have needed to save me. I should have been braver, not have been so….pathetic."

Hardison hugged her tight. As far as he could understand she was saying she should have allowed herself to be raped. Eliot would never have accepted that situation. If that _had_ happened Eliot would have killed McClure for certain, and then where would they all be? "No girl. He came for you because you needed him, Eliot would never do anything any different, not even if he _knew_ this would be the result! That's his job, it's always been his job, he knows it, we know it. This is a day we all knew could happen." He hugged her again. "Don't give up, girl. He's tough, he's very tough and he's a fighter. _He_ won't give up. This may still turn out well."

Tabby leaned on his shoulder, the only thing that felt even marginally better was to know that they didn't consider she was to blame. She still thought it was her fault, but at least they weren't all going to hate her for causing this disaster.

Hardison's phone bleeped and he answered. "Yeah, I've found her, she's all right. Yeah, we're on our way." He shoved the phone back into his pocket. "He's back from surgery, you can see him. Not much comfort I realise but…"

"Oh, yes. Please, I want to…." Tabby murmured tearfully.

Hardison steered her back to the ECU and the room where everyone was still gathered. She so badly wanted to sit with him, to hold his hand, to talk to him, unconscious or not. He was so pale; there were tubes, drips and monitors attached everywhere.

Sophie was seated at his bedside, holding his hand. Tabby felt an instant rush of angry jealousy, but…. who knew? She glanced around the room. Only Parker, Hardison and Shelly knew of her relationship with Eliot. And as far as they knew it was just a one night stand, or certainly not much more! As far as most of these people knew she was just a girl who was helping out, who had only just met Eliot. No-one knew how she felt.

* * *

And that was the way things stayed for the first few days. Everyone sort of hung about, leaving for a while and drifting back again. Sophie was at his bedside almost all of the time, hovering like a mother, or a lover. Tabby felt so excluded, but she berated herself. What did it matter how she felt? What mattered was Eliot's recovery, and things seemed to be improving very gradually. He _was_ a fighter, and fight he did!

On the fourth day he finally opened his eyes.

Once again Tabby had to retreat to the garden to cry alone. Sophie still held sway at his bedside to the exclusion of everyone else. It just seemed to be accepted. The only one who actually looked askance at the situation was Shelly.

He pursued her to the garden. "Hey, Tabby, don't take it so hard. Sophie has known him for a long time, the crew had been together for six years, they were close, you have to expect her to be with him."

Tabby shrugged. "Did I say anything?"

"No, you don't need to. I know you want to be the one who is there for him, I can see how much it hurts you. Come on, let's go back in. You need to speak to him."

By the time they got back to his bedside, Eliot was asleep again.

The following day Shelly took her to the hospital during the morning, once again Sophie was standing guard and she would allow no more than two people to his side at a time. Parker and Hardison were sitting in the corridor as two other friends were in the room with Sophie. Tabby felt a wave of despair, because she knew that when the two friends came out, Sophie would insist he needed to rest for a while before anyone else went in. Shelly obviously knew that too.

"Come on, a quick coffee." He caught her hand "We'll come back when the queue has gone down a bit."

Tabby gave him a small smile, she did appreciate his attempt at humour. Shelly was definitely a 'glass half full' guy, she could do with a few people like that in her life.

When they returned a while later only Sophie was in the room. Tabby hesitated outside.

"Go on." Shelly encouraged her.

"I can't, Sophie doesn't like me." She whispered. Dammit all, as if that really mattered! But it did, the woman frightened her in a way she couldn't describe.

"Ok, I'll fix this." Shelly marched into Eliot's room, Sophie jumped up from her seat at the bedside where she was reading a book as he slept.

"Tabby needs to speak to Eliot." Shelly confronted her.

Sophie rounded on him defensively. "He needs lots of rest."

"Yes, but she needs to speak to him. Dammit Sophie, he saved her life, she needs to connect."

"Well, she'll have to wait, he's sleeping."

"Hey!" They both spun to see Eliot blinking rather hazily at them. "Tabby?" He whispered.

"Yea, man. You wanna see her?"

"Yeah."

Shelly turned back to Sophie with a triumphant flash of his eyes. "I'll get her."

"Just for a minute!" Sophie relented.

Shelly dived out of the room. "Come on Tabby." He grabbed her hand and pulled her to the door.

Tabby entered tentatively, she'd not actually seen him since he'd woken yesterday. When she'd arrived back here he'd been sleeping and she had no idea if he had any desire at all to see her. Maybe he was resentful of the problems she had caused him, certainly no-one had said he was asking to see her.

She moved to his bedside, he still had his eyes closed. "Hi." She murmured softly, she was very aware of Sophie, hovering like a guardian angel.

He opened his eyes. "Hi, Sweetheart." His voice wasn't much above a low growl. "You all right?"

"Of course. Eliot, you saved my life."

"Y'welcome." He murmured, in his normal fashion. "Did I kill the bastard?"

"No, I don't think so." Tabby returned; it wasn't exactly what she'd expected to discuss.

"Pity." He closed his eyes again and gave a soft cough. "Don't really remember but I know he hurt you."

"I'm fine." Tabby reiterated. "You need to rest."

"Yeah. Tired." He coughed again.

"That's enough." Sophie was at her side steering her away. "You need to go, let him rest."

Tabby reached out rather desperately and touched his hand, he opened his eyes and squeezed her fingers briefly. He gave her the ghost of a smile and closed his eyes again. "Bye." Tabby murmured, then she allowed Sophie to steer her to the door. "Sophie, please, could I stay, I don't care if he's sleeping, I just want…"

"No." Sophie was very sharp. "He needs quiet and rest."

Tabby gave in and quietly went out of the door. Shelly was waiting for her.

"That was quick." He commented in surprise.

"He needs to rest." Tabby tried her best to smile at him, truthfully she felt more like crying again. Why could she not stay with him? She could sit quietly, she didn't need to disturb him, but she just so badly wanted to be there with him.

But Sophie wouldn't have it, and what Sophie said seemed to be law at the moment.

When she saw Hardison later that day she questioned this attitude, his reply was slightly apologetic, but gave her no room to manoeuvre.

"Well, Tabby. She's a bit overemotional at present. Nate has told us that she is around eight weeks pregnant, and he doesn't want her upset any more than she already has been. So I suppose we'll just have to live with it. It won't be forever."

"Oh." Tabby registered this with a little sigh. She was the outsider here, what more could she do or say?

So she went back to work, it was the only thing that she could think to do to take her mind off Eliot. Not that it stopped her thinking, but it stopped her from brooding so much of the day.

* * *

Eliot opened his eyes once again. He hated that light on the ceiling, it made his eyes hurt, hence he shut them a great deal of the time during the evening. During the day it was far more comfortable, and now he was allowed to sit up a bit more things were really improving. Or at least, physically things were improving.

He'd had a lot of time to think over this few days, and from what the doctor had said to him, he was going to be here for a fair while longer. It wasn't that bad, patience was a learned art, and he'd learned it well. However, _im_patience occasionally infiltrated his brain. Thinking had been necessary, because when he'd first woken he'd been in a complete muddle. He could sort of remember what happened, he could actually remember the pain of being shot, the shock of realising what had happened, but he couldn't remember what he'd been doing to _get_ shot. Sophie had been there, which had been confusing, because Sophie wasn't the one he'd expected to see and it had really thrown him. He was pretty sure that Tabby had been the last one talking to him, he could remember her talking about going fishing, and a few other things too!

But he was beginning to wonder what had gone wrong, if he had forgotten something important. He _thought_ he'd got it all straight, but the way Tabby was now behaving was making him worry.

He'd been over and over what had happened in that house, and the subsequent hours in the woods. Had he done the right thing? He'd had no choice about what he'd done to McClure, about what he'd needed to do to save Tabby. Except he now kept thinking, over and over, that he should have put the guy's lights out for good. But where would that have got him? The guy deserved it, but Tabby had finally seen him in his true colours, and she'd obviously not liked it.

He couldn't fail to notice that she wasn't here. Oh she'd come to see him, but she didn't really talk to him, and she didn't stay long, she seemed to be permanently attached to Shelly. The very idea made him feel ill, but Shelly was his friend, he was a good guy, and if that's the way it was, how could he argue?

The more he thought about it, the more he realised he'd done_ every_ damn thing wrong where that girl was concerned. Above all he should never have taken her into his bed. He should have ignored what he was feeling, thinking, wanting. It had been plain stupid! There was no future here if she couldn't accept what he was, it was something he should have told her, properly, before he'd allowed things to happen. The whole affair left him feeling…..empty.

* * *

Tabby visited every day when she wasn't working, sometimes he was sleeping, sometimes he was awake, but if he was awake he was never alone. There were always friends, Nate and Sophie spent a great deal of time with him, and Parker was frequently there too. She never got to speak to him alone, not once.

The days passed and instead of talking more as he recovered, they talked less. He seemed to have little to say to her, and she just didn't feel she could ask why, not when there was always someone there, listening to every word.

Finally the day arrived when he was told he could leave the hospital, it was three weeks since he'd been shot. When they had first known he would survive she had thought of this day, anticipating that she would help him convalesce. Maybe she would move in to his apartment and look after him. At least, that had been in her imagination; the reality was far different. They were further apart now than they had been the day they met, and Tabby didn't really know why.

He must have realised how badly she had done the job which had been entrusted to her. He must know that she had been the cause of him almost losing his life, it wasn't surprising that he didn't want to know her any more. And she couldn't object to this happening, she had got her wish, Eliot was well on his way to recovery. She had accepted that he could walk away, now she just had to live with the way things had turned out.

The more she thought about this, the more she realised she wouldn't be able to cope with this. Just seeing Eliot in the restaurant, knowing he was upstairs, would make her miserable. So the only answer was she had to find another job. But it wasn't that simple, she didn't have a great deal of money in the bank, she couldn't afford to leave this job unless she had somewhere else to go.

She looked through the jobs vacant in a desultory fashion, there was nothing instantly obvious, although she could probably find something if she walked around the diners. She'd wanted to move her life on, now it looked as if she'd be on her way back down.

Of course, she knew exactly where she could go to get a job if she really wanted one, and now she could even offer the fringe benefits to boost her income. It didn't seem to matter anymore, she might as well accept her lot in life. She'd thought herself unhappy in the past, but nothing could compare to the desolation she felt now.

* * *

Eliot had a long time to think this over. It was nearly two weeks before he was allowed out of bed at all, and another four days before he was allowed to walk to the bathroom. He chafed at the restrictions after the first few days, he could be patient but…..things were not as he could have wished.

He was rarely alone, except at night. But after the initial few days he didn't sleep that much, and at night he did most of his thinking.

Things had changed, the dynamics of his whole lifestyle had changed. He doubted that he would ever retire completely, this business just ….got under your skin, he knew Parker and Hardison felt much the same. But the crew as a threesome had only worked for a while. It was restrictive. Hardison was right that it held them back.

He had no idea how long he would be a semi-invalid, because that was what he considered himself if he couldn't fight. Therefore he was of no use to the team as a hitter, in truth, he may never be the hitter he had been! Fact! Not one he really wanted to believe, but quite possibly a realistic fact.

So the team had to change.

Shelly! Shelly had been his friend for a long time, he'd been involved on the periphery a few times, this was the first time he'd really got totally involved. He'd done Ok. He was an honest man, a soldier and a fighter, but he'd never stepped over the edge of the law until he had helped them these last few weeks. He was a hitter in the raw, and he was good at the job. Eliot had a feeling he would join the crew if he was asked. He needed to run it past Hardison and Parker first.

That led him to his second, and truthfully, most important problem. Tabby.

If the truth be known, Tabby was a grifter. She'd played a part for years, she'd hidden her true self behind a mask and she'd made a good job of it, she could do what was required. Ok she didn't have Sophie's talent for accents, but Sophie was an _exceptional_ grifter, they would never replace her with someone who was as good, Tabby had talent and it could be nurtured. She would fit in the crew.

Which led him to the next problem. He could lie there all night and dispassionately consider Tabby as part of the crew, but when it came to the bottom line, could he cope with her _being_ there?

Since that day in the woods the only conversations he had with Tabby had been about his recovery, nothing had been said about the escape, the fighting, the running, none of it. And not one word had been said about their relationship. That had been carefully avoided by everyone, including Parker, and that was a miracle in itself!

So who was actually avoiding the issue? The crew? Tabby? Or was it him?

Truthfully he didn't talk about it, because he didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to do! He didn't want to assume too much. Hell, he couldn't now assume anything at all, the way things were.

What he did know was that he felt for Tabby in a way he'd never done for another girl, ever!

His dilemma was down to cowardice. Was he honestly brave enough to lay himself open to her, to the possibility of rejection?

She had said she loved him. He could remember that as clear as day. So why had she now backed away from him? She had told him _after_ he'd beaten McClure, after he'd disposed of the guards, so _was_ it the violence that she didn't like? But she'd also told him that she knew he didn't love her and she expected nothing. So was that it? She loved him but she didn't actually want a relationship? She could see that it was foolish and it wouldn't work?

When he got out of here he needed to talk to her, if she would actually take the time to listen


	21. Chapter 21

The last chapter. When I started this I never expected it to be so long, but it sort of grew. Now I wonder if it might go on somewhere else? Anyone want more?

* * *

Chapter 21

Finally the day arrived, it had been decided that Eliot should go back to the office for a week or two, that way there would always be someone on hand to help if he needed anyone. Neither the doctor nor Sophie was happy with the idea of him returning to his own apartment, alone.

But whatever they might all think, he was not about to be mollycoddled, wrapped in cotton wool and 'looked after'! He would be putting his foot down, hard! He had talked to the doctor about his recovery and return to fitness, he'd been told what he could and couldn't do, he'd established that he could go in the gym as long as he didn't strain himself. If Sophie stayed she would object, and there were a few other things she wouldn't like either! If he had any say at all about things, Tabby would be back in his bed. So it was time Sophie left.

Nate and Sophie collected him from the hospital and they arrived at the office around lunch time. Immediately Sophie began organising, and Eliot began objecting.

"Sophie, thank you for everything, for all the care, and help and concern. Now it's time you and Nate went home."

"But Eliot, you need help….."

"No!"

"But…."

"I said no! Exactly what needs to be done for me? I can look after myself, I don't need or want anyone here to baby me! Go home, Sophie!" He was aware he sounded harsh, but he was sick of it.

Nate stepped forward to comfort Sophie, he was looking less than pleased. "Eliot, that's hardly fair, after all…."

"I know!" Eliot retaliated, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. "I'm sorry, but it doesn't alter how I feel. I want a bit of peace. I'm fine, honestly."

"Well, if that's how you feel!" Sophie sounded both tearful and affronted.

Eliot took a measured breath. "I'm sorry Sophie, but it is. You know I love you both, but I just need to get back to…...some sort of normality."

"So, we'll leave after lunch, is that all right with you?" Nate returned in a quiet, but rather sarky, tone.

Eliot reined in his temper. "Fine!" He turned abruptly and headed for his room, hopefully Sophie wouldn't follow him. He plonked down on his bed and remembered the last time he'd been here. Tabby had slept here on his bed, and he had fallen asleep beside her. He couldn't believe he'd done that, he never just slept that way, it had to be that he'd felt so relaxed just to be by her side. What had gone wrong with his life this last few weeks? In truth, he'd nearly died, and he'd fallen in love. There it was, he'd finally accepted the reality. Now what the Hell was he going to do about it?

Fifteen minutes later he re-emerged from his room, he'd got the temper back on an even keel and he needed to make amends, hard though that always was for him.

Sophie was on the sofa talking to Parker, who had arrived in his absence, they both looked up at him as he entered, Parker with a frown and Sophie…..well, Sophie still looked, offended.

Crawl time.

"Are we Ok?" He asked softly.

"Is that an apology?" Sophie returned.

Eliot squirmed a little and gave deprecatory shrug. "I didn't mean to be so…well, you know. But I meant what I said, I can deal with this myself. I need to, honestly."

Sophie regarded him seriously. "All right, but if you need us, you know where we are."

Eliot acknowledged that with a small nod. It would be a cold day in Hell before he gave in to that request!

* * *

By early afternoon Nate and Sophie were gone, Eliot was now left with Hardison and Parker, still not alone, but at least not being organised.

Parker flopped onto the sofa. "So, how soon can we take a job?"

Eliot eyed her disbelievingly, had she not been listening? If Sophie had still been here she would have been appalled. It then dawned on Eliot that Sophie had probably been well aware of Parker's ideas, and had been trying to save him from exactly this. No matter, he could deal with it.

"Not this week! We need to talk. Sit." He ordered.

Hardison rolled his eyes and took a seat on the sofa next to Parker. He'd been anticipating this. "Look, man. I know she's a bit over eager, but you gotta wait until you are right. I know that, and so does Parker, really!"

"And when do you think that might be, Hardison?" Eliot retorted. "Dammit, man, it might be never!"

"But…" Parker began to protest.

"No, Parker, just listen." Eliot responded softly. "Three weeks ago I lay on the ground and _I_ thought I was dead."

"You did?" Hardison was amazed. "You actually remember it?"

"Oh I remember most of it, you, Shelly, the paramedics, the helicopter. And yes, I thought I was dead, all those minutes before I arrived at the hospital, I just kept expecting it to stop, to go black, to fade away, and it did a couple of times, but it came back again. It wasn't until after I got to the hospital that it all turns to a blank. But it will take a while to get through this, if ever, so we need to make some changes."

Hardison watched him intently, there was just one thing he was missing here, he hadn't mentioned Tabby, not at all. "So, what changes?" _That_ wasn't a surprise, he'd been expecting this, but how it would play out he had no idea.

"It doesn't work."

"What doesn't work?" Parker demanded hotly.

"Three." Eliot returned succinctly.

"But we're good. We're fine." She protested angrily.

"Yeah, we three are good, but we need more."

"Nate and Sophie." She returned promptly.

"We can't _have_ Nate and Sophie, so we need to replace them."

Parker looked mutinous. "We can't replace Nate!"

"Unfortunately I agree with that." Hardison drawled.

"So do I." Eliot agreed. "But we've done all right between us with the cons and the planning, and we managed while he was in prison. Nate taught us _how_ to think, and we think the same way as he did, I wouldn't want to trust anyone else. No, we need bodies on the ground to run the cons. I have a suggestion, Shelly can be our hitter."

"But you're the hitter!" Parker protested.

"No Parker." Hardison chided her. "He can't, not at the moment. Eliot's right. Have you asked him?

"No, I wanted to run it past you first." He paused, trying to sort out his next words.

"And?" Hardison questioned.

"We need a grifter." Eliot paused again.

Parker helped him out this time. "Tabby. You want to include Tabby."

Hardison looked from one to the other, trust Parker to hit it dead on again! He voiced his opinion. "Tabby, yeah, she would be good. But….Eliot are you sure you want her to do this? Are you sure you can cope with her doing this? Can you put her in harm's way again? At some point here we need to talk about the huge pink elephant in the room!"

"Meaning?"

"Meaning you haven't mentioned her or talked about her since you've been here and you haven't talked to her for days. Why?"

Eliot merely shrugged and stared back at him.

"If we say yes to Tabby and she gets in trouble, I mean in real danger, how do we stop you from going over the top again?" Hardison persisted.

"I don't…I won't…." Eliot began.

"Not true! You will. Face it Eliot, you care about her and it's time it was in the open. Tell her! She's quietly pining away down there in the kitchen."

"What?"

"I think she would fit in, she could do the job, but we need to be sure that you can cope with her being in harm's way. And you also need to ask her! She might not want to do it again!"

Eliot jumped to his feet with a growl. "I told you…"

"Yeah, and you are not thinking straight." Hardison retaliated again.

Eliot stared at him in disbelief. How could geek man Hardison sit there and tell him how he should be behaving around a girl? He didn't have a clue!

Hardison leaned over and muttered to Parker. "Go girl. We need a guy talk, I'll call you to come back, maybe to bring Tabby too. Go."

Parker jumped up and did something totally unexpected, she bounced up to Eliot, flung her arms round him and planted a kiss square on his lips, then she exited the room swiftly. Eliot stared after her in confusion.

Hardison chuckled softly. "All the girls love an Eliot." Eliot glared at him, he shrugged with massive unconcern. "You started this conversation, all we have done is agree with you, with reservations. Shelly, yes. Tabby, certainly, but _you_ need to be sure. And you need to sort out what is between you two, because if you don't she won't do it. I'm telling you that right now!"

Eliot stared at him in impotent fury, at least, he thought it was fury. But….how had he lost control of this conversation? How had he ended up cornered like this? The real problem here was that Hardison was right on every count.

Hardison continued the lecture in a softer tone. "You once told me I was the smartest man you knew, I have to say you're not too shabby yourself, but maybe you need to listen to me."

"Not about things like this…about…girls." Eliot muttered defensively.

"If not me, then who?" He continued unaggresively. "_We_ can see it. We know you well enough to realise what is going on. You've never been like this about a girl." He gave a dry chuckle. "About a horse, maybe, or a kid, or even a dog, but not about a woman!"

Eliot couldn't control the rather reluctant grin that crept across his face. Just how well did these guys know him? He thought he buried things pretty deep, but who knew?

"So what you gonna do?" Hardison persisted.

Eliot ran his hands through his hair in frustration. That last day before she'd been snatched they had been…. happy. She'd seemed so close to him. But since the hospital and the entire trauma she'd been…distant. Still concerned, but not the loving little girl he'd discovered beneath the public persona, and he didn't know which was the real thing! It suddenly hit him that this must be how Nate had felt around Sophie!

"Tabby's been….different since the shooting."

"Different?"

Eliot gave a despairing shrug. "Yeah. I just don't know….how she's thinking, what she's thinking. She's sort of…retreated from me."

Hardison regarded him through half closed eyes. "You think?"

"I know! And every time I see her recently, she's with Shelly." He was well aware that last sentence sounded…..jealous.

"Look at it from her side. It must have been hard for her. You have no idea what it was like in that wood, even though you say you remember. Waiting for the paramedics and the helicopter seemed to take forever, and then when they arrived she got sort of bundled out of the way and left behind. Shelly took her to the hospital and did his level best to shield her from everything. He did a damned good job actually, so I can see where the thought comes from, but, no, not Shelly. She cried a great deal, and I think she then felt she had let too much out. Tabby is a very private person." Hardison paused for a second, he could see the connection here even if Eliot couldn't see it himself. "I don't think I have ever seen a girl so heartbroken, she was sure she'd not only lost you, but been responsible for your death."

"What? But that's crazy."

"Yeah, well. When we got to the hospital things were awful. Everyone was there, Nate, Sophie, Quinn, even Toni, dammit all Eliot, you got a fan club a mile long!" Hardison eyed him consideringly. "How much do you know about what was actually said when you were first in hospital?"

Eliot gave one of his dismissive shrugs. "What do expect me to know? I was unconscious for four days, how could I know anything?"

"Yeah. And we were told, after waiting about for six hours, that you probably _wouldn't_ wake up. Or if you did you may well have brain damage. Did anyone tell you exactly that?"

Eliot stared in disbelief. "It couldn't have been that bad?"

"That's what the man said, he gave you no better than a 30/70 chance. That was why Tabby was so…..distressed. And then when you _did_ wake up Sophie in particular sort of took over. She treated you like…..well, I don't know, but she never gave Tabby a chance to be there for you, because _she_ was there." Hardison paused to select his words. "Sophie and Nate have always treated us a bit like 'the kids'. Sophie sort of laid claim to you, and Tabby just faded into the background. And you didn't object!"

Eliot bristled aggressively, blue eyes snapping in annoyance. "I…...what the Hell did you expect me to do? I didn't even remember the first few days. And when Tabby wasn't there I thought ….I thought she didn't want to be there. I thought after everything that happened that she'd decided she didn't like what she'd seen. Did she talk about what happened in that house?"

"No." Hardison acknowledged. "If she told anyone it would have been Shelly, and he's said nothing, so I don't think she said much at all. So what happened?"

Eliot looked uncomfortable. "You know he tried to kill her?" Hardison nodded. "He was trying to rape her, and she fought him, so he tried to strangle her. I….got there just in time. I beat the guy. I really lost it, I don't think you've ever seen me like that. I guess it's a bit…."

"Intimidating." Hardison supplied. "Yes, you can be intimidating, but I really don't think that would have bothered Tabby, I don't think she is under any illusions about who and what you are. But now you need to talk to her, you need to tell her what you want to do."

"But what if….?"

"Ask her!" Hardison exclaimed. "Dammit man, I thought you were…..decisive when it came to women?" He grabbed his phone. "I'm gonna call Parker now and ask her to bring Tabby up. We'll leave you alone, I don't expect you to try to talk to her with Parker hanging on every word. Please Eliot, put the poor girl out of her misery one way or the other." He pressed the button and Parker answered. "Hi, girl, you can come back now." He eyed Eliot. "Well?"

"Yes." Eliot snarled.

"And bring Tabby."

"Cool. I'm on my way."

Eliot was now looking….both angry and worried. "Look, man. I know I have to talk to her about this but…..Dammit, Hardison, what do I actually have to offer a girl like Tabby? I'm hardly a guy with a future? It could all end the next time, as we've all now seen so clearly"

Hardison eyed him with sympathy. "What does any guy really feel he has to offer his girl? If you were an upstanding honest citizen with money to burn, a girl would be looking for more excitement! You just gotta take the win."

* * *

Parker slipped into the kitchen. "Mikel, can I borrow Tabby for a few minutes? Well, it might actually be more than a few minutes."

Mikel eyed her suspiciously. "That depends."

"On what?"

"On whether you intend upsetting her again. She's not happy, she's already asked me if I would write her references, I'm just waiting for her to decide to leave."

"You want her to leave?" Parker squeaked indignantly.

"No I do not! I'm afraid the way you lot have treated and upset her she will leave of her own accord!"

"Oh, phew. That's Ok then, we'll sort that!"

"How? I'm pretty sure that you know as well as I do what the problem really is?"

"I think the 'problem' is about to sort it himself." Parker retorted. She brushed past Mikel. "Hey, Tabby, could we have a word upstairs, please?"

Tabby looked up from her pastry making, she'd been trying to ignore Parker's presence. "What, now?"

"Can you come?"

Tabby glanced at Mikel, if he said no she would be spared the agony of seeing Eliot for a few more hours. She knew she couldn't keep avoiding him, but until she found another job she had to keep coming back. She had very little money, and the promised pay-out from the 'job' hadn't happened.

Mikel nodded. "Go on."

Tabby washed her hands, took off her apron and dragged out her 'politely concerned' face. She could do this, in truth she wanted to see him, back on his feet and on the way to full recovery, she was just afraid she would give herself away. The gulf between them had grown wider and wider over the last two weeks. She'd made an utter fool of herself with a man she'd always known was unavailable, now she was paying the price.

She now felt that she hardly knew him. Sophie had barely left his side, and she could see that he had deliberately kept Sophie there to keep her at bay. It couldn't have been more obvious that he no longer welcomed her interest.

She climbed the stairs behind Parker berating herself for being so naïve. She had known it was a short fling, why could she just not accept reality? And why on earth did he have to prolong this? Maybe he was now going to actually tell her the way things were?

Eliot was leaning on the window ledge with his back to the light. When she and Parker entered, Hardison got up from the couch and whisked Parker towards the kitchen.

"Coffee time, come and give me a hand, girl."

Tabby was left alone with Eliot. The only thing she could come out with was a rather strangled. "Hi."

"Hi." Eliot responded, he cleared his throat rather embarrassedly. "Come over here."

Tabby obliged, what he had to say obviously didn't need shouting across the room. She paused a few paces in front of him. "How are you feeling?"

"Better every day." Then he qualified the statement. "_Physically_ better every day. Otherwise, I feel like crap!"

"Oh." Tabby was slightly bewildered. "What….?"

"What made you change your mind?"

"Change my mind?" Tabby murmured; she didn't know what he was talking about.

"Well, for somebody who said they loved me, you did a pretty good disappearing act." He stepped forward swiftly and caught her upper arms. "Why didn't you talk to me at the hospital?"

"I…..but…" Tabby stuttered "I did."

"No you didn't, you let Sophie push you out, totally."

"But….you seemed to want it that way."

"No, I didn't. No-one ever asked my opinion, it just happened, she was there and you weren't."

"I thought you had asked her to….fend me off."

"You thought _what_?" Eliot was appalled. "Why on earth would I do that?"

Tabby had dropped her head and was now studying her shoes. "I made such an idiot of myself in that house, I was useless, I didn't do my job, and it meant you got hurt. I was so hopeless when we tried to escape, I held you back. And then I behaved like a pathetic fool when you got shot." She gave a distressed shake of her head. "Who could blame you for not wanting anything to do with me."

Eliot couldn't believe what he was hearing, it made him so angry he wanted to shake her, but he could feel her trembling in his grasp. Did he really come across that….intolerant and aggressive?

"Look at me!" He tried not to sound irritated, but he knew it came out as a demand, not a request. She shook her head, so he continued to talk to the top of her head, not what he wanted, but she'd got to listen. "Tabby, when you didn't come and see me I was afraid that…..you didn't like what you'd seen. What happened in that house…..you know I fight, that's my job, but knowing it and seeing it are two different things. Look at me please."

She shook her head again, if she did she would cry. Her pride had taken so many beatings just lately, she didn't want to end up a weeping wreck again.

At this moment Shelly came bowling into the room. "Hi…um…oh!" His gaze collided with Eliot's furious scowl.

Hardison swiftly emerged from the kitchen, grabbed his arm and yanked him out of the room.

Eliot dismissed his presence instantly, Hardison was doing a good job. He returned his attention to the important business of the moment.

"Tabby…"

She forestalled the comment. "How many bad guys, including McClure, got flattened as we escaped?"

"Four." Eliot replied softly, not sure where this was heading.

"And how many were down to you?"

"Umm….three." He acknowledged.

"No, two and a half. And if I'd got a better swing at him it would have been two apiece. So don't try and tell me you think I'd be worried about what you did! I did too."

Eliot looked down at her, she was still regarding her feet. He'd not even_ thought_ about that fact. But it was absolutely true, she hadn't gone all girly and stood back while he beat the bad guys, she'd actively taken on the fight with him. So if it wasn't the violence, why had she retreated? Did she really think he felt her a failure? It was utterly untrue.

"Tabby, do you remember the last thing I actually said to you in that wood?"

This time Tabby did raise her eyes to his, the last thing he'd said was that he wanted to make love to her, she would never forget that, it was something which had kept her going while he lay unconscious in that hospital. But she'd never expected that _he_ would remember.

"Do you?" He persisted.

"Yes." She replied softly.

"I meant it. And I remember perfectly well what I said." He looked into her eyes. "I want to make love to you, because I love you, Kitten."

Tabby just stared back in utter disbelief.

"Well….say something!" He demanded rather desperately, he'd not expected no response at all!

Tabby gave a strangled little sob and buried her face in his shirt. He folded his arms around her and pulled her close. Dammit all, _this_ was what he'd needed. All those days in the hospital not once had he felt this sort of relief, this comfort, despite all the friends who had surrounded him and offered support. He buried his face in her hair and just absorbed the feeling, the sweetness of holding her soft little body against his. Of course he loved her. Of course he would go over the top to save her if she was in trouble. How could he help himself? He loved her.

"My little Kitten." He murmured softly. Tabby raised her tear stained face and he kissed her, softly at first, then harder and possessively. He released her mouth, aware that he'd probably misled her here, she had to know this the way it really was. "Tabby, sweetheart, you've got to realise that this is all there is."

Tabby looked up at him questioningly.

"It's you and me, now. There's no future to plan for, no white picket fence, no family home and kids. I can't make plans like that and if you stay with me you need to understand that. If at any time you decide that's not what you need then you will have to walk away."

Tabby's heart did a lurch, no future, no plans. What girl wanted that? But could she walk away from this man? Now there was the bottom line. She couldn't! Not now, maybe not ever. So she would stay and live this life each and every day, and she would hope that one day things might change, no-one knew what forever might hold.

"Eliot, you can only live life one day at a time, the future …..well….you can plan, but you can't make it happen whoever you are. So I will stay and live this life as it rolls out each day, because I love you and I want to live as much as I can with you."

Parker was spying from the doorway.

"Leave them alone, girl." Hardison admonished quietly.

"Why? I want to know what's going on." Parker hissed back at him. "Ooohh, they're kissing! Looks like things are good!"

Shelly moved so he too could spy over her head.

Hardison shook his head with a rueful grin. "You pair! Sounds like it could be!"

It was several minutes before Tabby and Eliot got round to any more words, but finally he released her for long enough to murmur. "You're my Kitten, Tell me that's true?"

"Yes." Tabby agreed softly.

"Now we've got that straight, there's something else I want to ask you. You can say yes or no, which ever you want, but it won't make any difference to _us_ whatever you say. Do you want to join the team properly, as our grifter?"

Tabby stared at him in amazement. "You didn't think I was awful?"

"You weren't awful. You did the job exactly as you were supposed to do. What happened wasn't normal! It was one of the worst situations we've been stuck with. It's not unusual to need to beat the goons, but we don't usually put our grifter in danger that way. You being stuck in there and getting damned near raped and killed…." He shuddered at the thought. "I truly hope it will never happen like that again. I'm not trying to tell you it's safe, it carries a risk, always, but it's not generally that bad!" He looked down at her. "Do you want some time to think about it?"

"No. I want to do it."

"And you want to be my girl?"

"Oh, yes, yes, yes!" She smiled up at him.

Parker waltzed back into the room, there was little point in pretending she hadn't been listening!

"Goody! Coffee time!" She grinned happily at Tabby. "Welcome to the mad house."

Shelly ambled laconically from the kitchen with a satisfied smile on his face, Hardison brought up the rear and put the coffee tray onto the table.

"So." He ventured. "We have a team?"

"Finally, we have a team." Eliot replied with satisfaction.


End file.
